Its original name was the Jubilee Stadium (French: Stade du Centenaire, Dutch: Jubelstadion) because it was inaugurated as part of the centenary celebrations of the Belgian Revolution, with an unofficial Belgium–Netherlands football match.

[3] Additionally, the only escape route led upward, and there were only three gates on each short side–nowhere near enough for the 22,000 people standing on the terraces on either side.

[4] The Heysel Stadium disaster resulted in the deaths of 39 Juventus spectators after they were attacked by Liverpool fans before the match.

The City of Brussels complained that contrary to these claims the stadium was safe, and this complaint was upheld in court.

On 6 October 2006, the Belgian Football Association met with representatives of the City of Brussels and they agreed to renew the contract and extend it to 30 June 2008.

In March 2019, the Belgian football association announced plans for a new redevelopment of the King Baudouin Stadium.

The stadium would be rebuilt to a reduced capacity of 40,000 spectators and renamed to the Golden Generation Arena with a prospective completion date of 2022.

This was a friendly match against the Netherlands (1–6) played as part of the promotion of the triple bid to host the Women's Football World Cup, the third country being Germany.

This choice was explained by the work carried out at the Eneco Stadium (where the Red Flames usually play) during this period.

However, heavy snowfall in Brussels on the intended matchday forced the cancellation of what would have been the first Heineken Cup match held in Belgium; the fixture was instead played the following day in Paris.

On 20 October 2012, English club Saracens took their Heineken Cup pool match against Racing Métro to Brussels.

[12] On 8 July 2010, the stadium played host to the Best of Belgium gala which featured a tennis match originally scheduled to be between Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

It has also showcased concerts by some of the world's greatest artists, including the Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna, Beyoncé, Céline Dion, Johnny Hallyday, Robbie Williams, Genesis, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Rammstein and many more.