Last night, the Paris attacks touched the Stade de France during a game between Germany and France. At least two bombs went off right outside the stadium full of 80,000 people, which you could hear on the game’s broadcast. French president Francois Hollande was in attendance and was forced to evacuate, but the others in the stadium had to wait around.
The spectators were evacuated from the stands onto the pitch, and eventually left through a restricted number of exits. Meanwhile, the German national team never left the stadium and they slept in the locker room last night, electing not to re-enter the city and travel to their hotel room.
The game was allowed to finish, but next week’s friendlies are in doubt. France will reportedly continue along with Tuesday’s game in England. Before the game even started, the Germans were evacuated from their hotel due to a bomb threat. They have successfully left the country and travelled back to Germany, but their upcoming friendly against the Netherlands might not happen anymore.
For more on the Paris attacks, follow Gawker’s coverage.
Update (4:02 p.m.): According to The Guardian, the French team also slept in the stadium with the German team in solidarity. From the report:
Germany’s acting FA president, Reinhard Rauball, has praised France’s players for an “outstanding gesture of camaraderie” after they refused to leave the Stade de France on Friday night in a show of solidarity with their opponents.
Both sets of players spent much of the night on mattresses in the stadium after Germany were advised not to return to their team hotel following the terrorist attacks across Paris. “The French said that they were staying as long as Germany had to stay,” said Rauball.
Photo via Getty