On November 13, 2015, a wave of terror shook Paris, including in front of the gates of the Stade de France – during the international match between France and Germany. It will be one of the darkest nights in France and European football.
On November 13, 2015, the German national soccer team experienced the unthinkable at the Stade de France in Paris: during the international match against France, explosive devices detonated directly in front of the stadium gates. While the game is still playing, Paris is shaken by a wave of terror. In the end, the attacks will cost 130 people their lives in a total of five different locations. It will be one of the darkest nights in France and European football.
Terror. Football. Paris 2015 – The national team in sight. The documentary can be seen in the ARD media library from November 4, 2025. The documentary will be shown on Das Erste on November 10th at 8:15 p.m.
Football and Terror: The Night that Shakes Paris
“It became clear to everyone that we were really in an incredible emergency situation,” said then national coach Joachim Löw, recalling the situation in the stadium.
And Bastian Schweinsteiger, captain of the DFB team in 2015, says: “You think you’re going to the football game – and in the end that was the blackest day.”
The documentary “Terror. Football. Paris 2015 – The national team in its sights” tells the events of that night from the perspective of the players, coaches, security forces and journalists – and shows how close terror was to the German team.
The international match in Paris – and the night of terror
What begins as a sporting highlight turns into feelings of fear and horror. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare,” comments ARD reporter Tom Bartels. The then Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French President François Hollande are sitting in the official gallery of the Stade de France, who are informed during the game that Paris is the target of a coordinated terrorist attack. “Even a single suicide bomber would have killed many people,” said Steinmeier. “That has stuck with me to this day. The comparison with 9/11 has also occurred to me many times.”
The DFB team spends the night in the dressing room in the stadium. Players like Kevin Trapp, André Schürrle and Christoph Kramer describe fear, silence and helplessness in the documentary. “You’re afraid, you’re panicking – you don’t want to show it, but you have 1,000 thoughts in your head,” says Trapp, remembering that night.
Hannover: The game that never happened
The friendly match against the Netherlands is scheduled to take place in Hanover just four days later – as a symbol of strength and normality. But shortly before kick-off the stadium was evacuated. The suspicion: concrete risk of attack.
“We had to ask ourselves: Could something like that happen here too?” says Uwe Kolmey, then LKA director in Lower Saxony. Oliver Bierhoff, DFB team manager in 2015, remembers: “I was concerned the whole time – are we the target now?”
The documentary Terror. Football. Paris 2015 – The national team in its sights shows the subjective view of the players, coaches and officials, accompanies emergency services and counter-terrorism units back to the threatening situations in Paris and Hanover and shows how narrowly the national team escaped a catastrophe.
