Inter and Milan at the San Siro, Roma and Lazio at Stadio Olimpico and Genoa and Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris are probably the most notable examples.
While there are exceptions, such as Belgian sides Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge sharing the Jan Breydel Stadium and - for a few years - 1860 Munich joining Bayern at Allianz Arena, most of the rest of the continent would be appalled at the idea of sharing your home with your biggest rivals.
However, there is another example of a pair who buck that particular trend, and they will meet at their mutual home this Sunday in Sweden's top flight, Allsvenskan. Djurgarden are the hosts at 3Arena, where they 'welcome' their Stockholm rivals, Hammarby.
The Stockholm Derby
The two meet in Round 5 of the 2026 Allsvenskan season for the first major Stockholm derby of the campaign.
Sunday, 26th April: Djurgarden vs Hammarby - 3Arena, Stockholm (14:00 CEST)
The Stockholm scene
Historically, the Stockholm football landscape has been dominated by three teams. One of those is AIK, who since 2013 have played at Sweden's national stadium, Strawberry Arena, and previously played at Rasunda Stadium. Both of which are in Solna, a town part of the Greater Stockholm area.
AIK are 12-time Swedish champions and retain very strong rivalries with the other two big clubs, including the Tvillingderbyt (The Twin Derby) which they play against Djurgarden.
But for a derby between teams from the heart of Stockholm, we must look at Djurgarden vs Hammarby, sometimes called the 08 Derby because they share the 08 telephone area code.
Hammarby sports club were founded in 1889, but they didn't open a football department until 1915, making them the younger brother of the 'twins' who were formed just three weeks apart in 1891, hence the nickname. Ever since, they have in some respects been playing catch-up in terms of fighting for footballing supremacy in the city.
Known as Bajen - the short version of a mock-English pronunciation of Hammarby - the club count the traditionally working-class district of Sodermalm in the south of the city centre as their spiritual home. Djurgarden come from Östermalm in the east of the city centre, the district with the highest property prices in Sweden, making them historically the club of the upper classes. Understandably, that aspect gives the derby a real social and cultural edge.
Also in the Allsvenskan are Brommapojkarna, the Swedish talent factory that has re-established itself in the top flight in recent years. Despite being from the west of the Greater Stockholm region, the other three do not count BP as a true rival.
The Stadium
In 2013, Hammarby left Soderstadion and Djurgarden departed the Stockholm Olympic Stadium to take up joint residence at the brand new, 30,000-seater Tele2 Arena, now known as 3Arena.
The stadium build was funded by the city of Stockholm, and with constructing one state-of-the-art, UEFA Category 4 stadium seen as a better option than building two smaller, lower category stadiums, the decision was taken that the two clubs would groundshare.
The location proved to be somewhat controversial, as 3Arena is located in Johanneshov, in the south of the city, very much part of Hammarby's heartland and home to their former ground. Doubling up as a concert venue, 3Arena has also hosted other sports such as handball and bandy.
The first Stockholm derby played there was a 2-1 win for Hammarby on 15th April 2015 and since then, the match has taken on the nickname of "El Plastico", owing to the 3Arena's plastic pitch!
The Bragging Rights
Despite many seeing them as the third of Stockholm's big three, Hammarby edge the overall record against Djurgarden.
138 matches between the two have been played, with Hammarby winning 56, Djurgarden winning 53 and there have been 29 draws. However, Blaranderna (The Blue Stripes) have the better Allsvenskan record, winning 39, drawing 18 and losing 37 of the 94 top-flight encounters.
As the saying goes; you're only as good as your last game, and that's good news for Hammarby, who won 1-0 when the sides met in Svenska Cupen in mid-March for that 56th overall victory. In the league last season, HIF won 2-0 at home before the sides played out a 3-3 draw.
In fact, Hammarby remain unbeaten across the last eight in all competitions and seven in the league - winning four and drawing three before adding last month's cup victory since Djurgarden last celebrated a win - 1-0 in July 2022.
But when it comes to silverware, Djurgarden have much more to smile about - they have been Swedish champions on 12 occasions, eight of which have come in the Allsvenskan era, and also won five Svenska Cupen titles.
In Europe, "The Iron Stoves" reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural European Cup in 1956, and in 2025 made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League, where they were eliminated by Chelsea.
Hammarby, on the other hand, have been champions just once, back in 2001, and cup winners just once, in 2021. Despite being twice winners of the Intertoto Cup, their best performance in a major European competition was reaching the Third Round of the UEFA Cup in 1985/86.
As a Hammarby fan once to told this writer: "Hammarby are the Tottenham Hotspur of Swedish football. They're a big club from the capital that just hasn't had the success that its neighbours have enjoyed."
To extend the Spurs metaphor, when Mjallby "did a Leicester" by winning the 2025 league title, Bajen played the Tottenham role as the nearest challengers for so long, but ultimately falling a fair way short.
What to expect this weekend?
If one shouldn't look at a 20-team league table until after matchday six, then four matches must be about the right time to take a look at the 16-team Allsvenskan table?
Hammarby have had the better start, albeit an inconsisten one - they restored pride on the opening day by beating Mjallby 3-0, only to lose to Sirius. Then, they thrashed Orgryte 8-1, but again couldn't build on that, drawing 1-1 at home to Halmstad in midweek. They sit fourth in the table on seven points.
Djurgarden are in eighth on six points, having made a perfect start with wins over GAIS and Kalmar, but since then have lost narrowly to Malmo and Elfsborg. With Kalmar and GAIS sitting in the relegation zone, those opening wins might not be quite as perfect as they first looked.
Both sides will have ambitions of getting back among the early leaders this weekend. Thanks largely to the Orgryte win, Bajen have the most prolific attack in the division so far and will be reliant on the likes of Nikola Vasic and Montader Madjed for goals.
But, their top scorer this season with four, Paulos Abraham, is a doubt for the match with an injury that has been plaguing him since preseason.
"It's clear that it's extra special in a match against Djurgarden and you might be able to play a little more anyway. I'm dying to play and then we'll see what's best for the team and for me. For me, I push those boundaries a little more," said Abraham.
Hammarby have certainly blown hot-and-cold so far this season, and with all four of Djurgarden's matches settled by one goal, the Blue Stripes are more than capable of staying in the game.
Daniel Stensson will miss the match for the designated hosts through illness, but DIF are hoping to have Adam Stahl back at the heart of their defence to repel the Hammarby attack. Stahl said he aims to be back, "Otherwise I'll start swinging!" setting the tone for what could be a physical battle.
Follow Djurgarden vs Hammarby and every Allsvenskan match on Flashscore.
