Olympique Marseille

The Stade Velodrome is the magnificent home of Olympique de Marseille, located at 3 boulevard Michelet in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille, France's second city and its principal Mediterranean port. The stadium holds 67,394 spectators and has been OM's home since 1937, making it one of France's oldest and most beloved football venues. The ground was originally designed to host cycling as well as football, but has evolved over decades into a pure football stadium. A transformative renovation between 2011 and 2014 added a dramatic wave-shaped roof covering all four sides, providing full weather protection while preserving the ground's bowl character and amplifying its extraordinary atmosphere.

Olympique de Marseille are France's most European-minded club, and the Stade Velodrome has witnessed the club's greatest achievement - the UEFA Champions League triumph in 1993, when a Basile Boli goal defeated AC Milan in Munich to make OM the first and, to date, only French club to win the European Cup. That triumph, and the passionate Mediterranean identity of the club and city, has made the Velodrome one of European football's most emotionally charged venues. The Virage Sud and the constantly full Virage Nord create a wall of noise, scarves, and flares that is regularly cited as the finest atmosphere in France. Icons including Didier Drogba, Samir Nasri, Zinedine Zidane - who is from Marseille - Steve Mandanda, Papin, and Ribery are all associated with the club and its ground.

The Stade Velodrome hosted games at Euro 1984, the 1998 FIFA World Cup including a semi-final and the third-place match, and Euro 2016. The renovated stadium is one of the most impressive in France, with its fluid roofline visible from across the surrounding neighbourhood. The renovation cost approximately 267 million euros and significantly improved hospitality facilities and the acoustics that have always been the ground's signature quality. OM's passionate, demanding, and intensely loyal fanbase - drawing from Marseille's diverse working-class population and the broader Provence region - fills the Velodrome consistently and creates an atmosphere that visiting clubs find uniquely challenging to cope with.