# RheinEnergieStadion

RheinEnergieStadion, formerly Müngersdorfer Stadion (German pronunciation: ) or Müngersdorfer Stadium, is a German football stadium in Cologne. It was built on the site of the two previous Müngersdorfer stadiums. It is the home of the local 2. Bundesliga team, 1. FC Köln. The stadium was one of eight stadiums to host UEFA Euro 1988, with USSR beating Netherlands 1-0 and Italy beating Denmark 2-0 in the group stage. It was one of five stadiums hosting both the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final behind closed doors, and was one of ten host stadia for UEFA Euro 2024. Local energy company RheinEnergie AG currently holds the naming rights to the stadium, hence it was known as the Stadion Köln for the final.

## History

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the fortifications of Cologne were removed, thus allowing for the building of a new structure in the surrounding area. The new construction enabled the city to create 15,000 jobs. The new stadium was called the Müngersdorfer Stadion. This allowed Cologne not only to help stabilize the country but also to gain prestige and economic benefits for the city. The cost was tallied at 47.4 million Deutsche Mark.
Following the completion of the stadium, the city began to gain prominence in the domestic sports world. Many major football matches were held at the stadium in front of huge crowds. The first international match was held on 20 November 1927, when the Germany national team drew 2–2 with the Netherlands. Since then, the German team has played 19 times at the stadium, and only one of those matches resulted in a loss. Another notable match was the first post-war game, which saw 1. FC Nürnberg beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2–1, in front of a crowd of 75,000.
One of the specialties of the Müngersdorfer Stadion was the track meets for non-professional sportsmen. In 1929 there were over 38,000 participants. However, in 1933 Jews were no longer allowed to take part. After the war the stadium has only hosted professional level sports.

## Recent matches of importance

In 2005, the stadium was a venue for three first-round games of the FIFA Confederations Cup, including the opening match between Argentina and Tunisia. The game was won by Argentina 2–1.
The Müngersdorfer has been host to many important UEFA Cup matches. Bayer Leverkusen played against Barcelona, and Galatasaray against Monaco in the 1988–89 European Cup. Borussia Mönchengladbach played both Arsenal and Monaco in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup. The stadium also functioned as the home ground to second-tier Alemannia Aachen in their 2004–05 UEFA Cup campaign.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final was moved from the Stadion Energa Gdańsk in Gdańsk, Poland to the RheinEnergieStadion, to be played behind closed doors. Sevilla won the match, defeating Inter Milan 3–2.

## Awards

In July 2004, the RheinEnergieStadion was awarded a bronze medal for distinguished sporting and leisure facilities by the International Olympic Committee.

## Concerts

list of concerts at RheinEnergieStadion :
| Date | Performer | Event | Attendance |
| As Müngersdorfer Stadion |||||
| 4 and 5 July 1982 | The Rolling Stones | European Tour 1982 | — |
| 17 June 1983 | Supertramp | — | — |
| 16 June 1984 | Bob Dylan, Santana | Bob Dylan/Santana European Tour 1984 | — |
| 19 July 1986 | Queen | The Magic Tour | — |
| 17 June 1987 | U2 | The Joshua Tree Tour | |
| 3 July 1988 | Michael Jackson | Bad | — |
| 18 June 1989 | Pink Floyd | A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour | — |
| 26 May 1990 | Tina Turner | Foreign Affair: The Farewell Tour | — |
| 30 and 31 May 1990 | The Rolling Stones | Urban Jungle Tour | — |
| 30 May 1992 | Guns N' Roses | Use Your Illusion Tour | — |
| 11 July 1992 | Michael Jackson | Dangerous World Tour | — |
| 17 July 1992 | Dire Straits | On Every Street Tour | — |
| 18 July 1992 | Dire Straits | On Every Street Tour | — |
| 27 July 1992 | Genesis | We Can't Dance Tour | |
| 2 August 1994 | Pink Floyd | The Division Bell Tour | — |
| 20 June 1995 | The Rolling Stones | Voodoo Lounge Tour | — |
| 27 July 1996 | Tina Turner | Wildest Dreams Tour | — |
| 3 June 1997 | Michael Jackson | HIStory World Tour | 60,000 |
| 5 June 1999 | Wolfgang Petry | Einfach geil... Open Air 1999 | — |
| 20 June 1999 | The Rolling Stones | No Security Tour | — |
| 28 July 2000 | Tina Turner | Twenty Four Seven Tour | — |
| 20 June 2001 | Bon Jovi | One Wild Night Tour | — |
| 8 July 2001 | AC/DC | Stiff Upper Lip World Tour | — |
| 11 August 2001 | Robbie Williams | Weddings, Barmitzvahs & Stadiums Tour | — |
| As RheinEnergieStadion |||||
| 6 July 2005 | Queen + Paul Rodgers | Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour | |
| 23 July 2006 | The Rolling Stones | A Bigger Bang Tour | |
| 19 May 2009 | AC/DC | Black Ice World Tour | 45,724 / 45,724 |
| 31 December 2009 | Die Fantastischen Vier | | |
| 29 May 2010 | P!nk | The Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour | |
| 13 June 2011 | Herbert Grönemeyer | | |
| 16 July 2011 | Nina Hagen | Brings Jubilee Concert | |
| 27 May 2012 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Wrecking Ball World Tour | 40,417 / 40,417 |
| 4 September 2012 | Coldplay | Mylo Xyloto Tour | 43,952 / 43,952 |
| 22 June 2013 | Bon Jovi | Because We Can Tour | 42,476 / 42,476 |
| 15 June 2015 | Helene Fischer | Farbenspiel Live | 74,000 / 74,000 |
| 16 June 2015 | Helene Fischer | Farbenspiel Live | 74,000 / 74,000 |
| 27 May 2016 | Queen + Adam Lambert | Queen + Adam Lambert 2016 Summer Festival Tour | |
| 28 July 2016 | Rihanna | Anti World Tour | |
| 10 September 2016 | Unheilig | Unheilig Tour 2015 / 2016 | |
| 5 June 2017 | Depeche Mode | Global Spirit Tour | 42,032 / 42,032 |
| 3 July 2018 | Beyoncé and Jay-Z | On the Run II Tour | 39,501 / 39,501 |
| 13 June 2019 | Metallica | WorldWired Tour | 41,460 / 42,021 |
| 21 June 2019 | Phil Collins | Not Dead Yet Tour | 41,460 / 42,021 |
| 22 June 2019 | Phil Collins | Not Dead Yet Tour | 41,460 / 42,021 |
| 29 June 2019 | Muse | Simulation Theory World Tour | 40,400 / 42,526 |
| 5 July 2019 | P!nk | Beautiful Trauma World Tour | 77,313 / 77,313 |
| 6 July 2019 | P!nk | Beautiful Trauma World Tour | 77,313 / 77,313 |
| 11 October 2021 | Moop Mama | Semester Kick Off 2021 | |
| 4 June 2022 | Die Ärzte | Buffalo Bill in Rom Tour | |
| 10 June 2022 | Die Toten Hosen | 40 Jahre - Alles aus Liebe | |
| 17 June 2022 | Kasalla | | |
| 2 July 2022 | Iron Maiden | Legacy of the Beast World Tour | |
| 5 July 2022 | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Red Hot Chili Peppers 2022–2024 Global Stadium Tour | 39,394 / 39,394 |
| 9 June 2023 | Muse | Will of the People World Tour | |
| 15 June 2023 | Beyoncé | Renaissance World Tour | 41,166 / 41,166 |
| 8 July 2023 | P!nk | Summer Carnival | |
| 9 July 2023 | P!nk | Summer Carnival | |
| 9 September 2023 | AnnenMayKantereit | Live 2023 | |
| 20 July 2024 | Travis Scott | Circus Maximus Tour | |
| 2 July 2025 | Kendrick Lamar & SZA | Grand National Tour | |

## Renovation

There have been two renovations, from 1972 to 1975 and from 2002 to 2004.
In 1974, the World Cup was held in West Germany, and Cologne had wanted to be a host city. The city's bid was approved and it soon began work on a new stadium that was to replace the now outdated Müngersdorfer Stadion. However, the city was unable to raise the money needed for a stadium of the desired size. The original plan was for an 80,000-seat arena, which was planned to have cost 23.5 million Deutsche Mark. But the total kept growing. In the end, if the stadium had been completed, the cost would have amounted to 93.5 million. At the time, the city was able to provide only an extra 6 million Deutsche Mark.
Following the World Cup, Cologne still wanted the stadium completed. Hence, on 12 November 1975, a 61,000-seat arena was inaugurated with a match between 1. FC Köln and SC Fortuna Köln, 1. FC Köln winning 1–0. In this configuration the stadium hosted the UEFA Euro 1988.
With the news of the prospect of bringing the World Cup back to Germany, the city reacted and started renovation of the stadium, which was completed in 2003. Unlike previous configurations, there are no track-and-field facilities, allowing spectators to be much closer to the pitch than they might have been in a traditional continental multi-purpose stadium.

## Facilities

The capacity is about 50,000 people during club matches and 45,965 for international games, when terracing is not allowed. The entire field is lit with a floodlight system. In the north grandstand there is a museum dedicated to 1. FC Köln.

## External dimensions

| Length | 220 m |
| Width | 180 m |
| Height to Roof | 33.25 m |
| Roof Area | 15,400 m$^2$ |

## 2006 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, due to sponsorship contracts, the arena was called "FIFA World Cup Stadium Cologne" during the World Cup.
The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 2006:
| Date | Time (CET) | Team # | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
| 11 June 2006 | 21:00 | Angola | 0–1 | Portugal | Group D | 45,000 |
| 17 June 2006 | 17:00 | Czech Republic | 0–2 | Ghana | Group E | 45,000 |
| 20 June 2006 | 18:00 | Sweden | 2–2 | England | Group B | 45,000 |
| 23 June 2006 | 21:00 | Togo | 0–2 | France | Group G | 45,000 |
| 26 June 2006 | 21:00 | Switzerland | 0–0 (0–3p) | Ukraine | Round of 16 | 45,000 |

## UEFA Euro 2024

The stadium was one of the venues for the UEFA Euro 2024. However, due to sponsorship contracts, the arena was called "Cologne Stadium" during the tournament.
The following games were played at the stadium during the tournament:
| Date | Time (CEST) | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Round | Spectators |
| 15 June 2024 | 15:00 | Hungary | 1–3 | Switzerland | Group A | 41,676 |
| 19 June 2024 | 21:00 | Scotland | 1–1 | Switzerland | Group A | 42,711 |
| 22 June 2024 | 21:00 | Belgium | 2–0 | Romania | Group E | 42,535 |
| 25 June 2024 | 21:00 | England | 0–0 | Slovenia | Group C | 41,536 |
| 30 June 2024 | 21:00 | Spain | 4–1 | Georgia | Round of 16 | 42,233 |

## Transportation

The stadium is part of Sportpark Müngersdorf, adjacent to Aachener Straße. It is accessible by car via the Cologne Beltway, only some 1200 m off the Bundesautobahn 1. The Cologne Stadtbahn provides service at RheinEnergieStadion through the line 1.