View source for Sousse Olympic Stadium

{{Short description|Football stadium in Sousse, Tunisia}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = Sousse Olympic Stadium
| nickname = ''Cemetery of the invaders''
| logo_image = 
| logo_caption = 
| image = Stade olympique de Sousse, vue panoramique, 1 Mars 2025.jpg
| caption = The stadium in 2025
| fullname = 
| former_names = 
| location = [[Sousse]], [[Tunisia]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|35|49|24|N|10|36|46|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| broke_ground = 
| built = 
| opened = 1973
| renovated = 1994 <br /> 2019–2024
| expanded = 1999 <br /> 2019–2022
| closed = 
| demolished = 
| owner = [[Government of Tunisia]]
| operator = 
| surface = Grass
| scoreboard = 
| estimated_cost = 
| suites = 
| architect = 
| project_manager = 
| structural engineer = 
| services engineer = 
| general_contractor = 
| main_contractors = 
| capacity = 40,000<ref>{{cite web | url=https://stadiumdb.com/stadiums/tun/stade_olympique_de_sousse | title=Stade Olympique de Sousse }}</ref>
| record_attendance = 
| executive_suites = 
| dimensions = 105 m × 65 m
| acreage = 
| tenants = [[Étoile du Sahel]]
}}

The '''Sousse Olympic Stadium''' ({{Langx|ar|الملعب الأولمبي بسوسة}}) is a [[multi-purpose stadium]] in [[Sousse]], [[Tunisia]].  It is used by the [[football (soccer)|football]] team [[Étoile du Sahel]], and was used for the [[2004 African Cup of Nations]].  The stadium has a capacity of 50,000<ref>{{cite web | url=https://soccer365.me/clubs/8046/ | title=FC "Etoile du Sahel": Squad, video, games result and schedule - Soccer365 }}</ref> after the most recent renovation works. It hosts within it the meetings played by the football team of the city: Étoile Sportive du Sahel (ESS).

It hosted [[1977 FIFA World Youth Championship|1977 FIFA U-20 World Cup]], [[1994 African Cup of Nations]], [[2001 Mediterranean Games]] and [[2004 African Cup of Nations]].

==History==
For many decades, [[Sousse]] footballers knew only the clay surfaces and knew the turf surfaces only when the stadium was inaugurated with an initial capacity of 10,000 places. The last expansion was carried out in 1999 to bring the capacity of the stadium to 28,000 seats for the [[2001 Mediterranean Games]]. The stadium has yet to be expanded to reach the capacity of 49,000 seats after the announcement the president of the club [[:fr:Moez Driss|Moez Driss]] in 2008. The Olympic Stadium of Sousse also hosted some of the [[Libya national football team|Libyan national team]]’s matches due to the [[Libyan Civil War (2014–present)|Libyan war]], such as Libya and [[Rwanda national football team|Rwanda]] in the [[2018 World Cup qualification]].

==Renovation==
In November 2017, on a visit to the President of the Republic, [[Beji Caid Essebsi]], to Sousse, he gave an indication of the beginning of the expansion of the stadium and thus in March 2019, in order to be able to accommodate 40,000 spectators instead of 28,000. The cost of completing the total works was estimated at 32 million [[Tunisian dinar|dinars]], including 4 million dinars as a contribution from the Municipality of Sousse and 2 million dinars from the contribution of the team and coastal and is expected to include the expansion of the stadium, which will extend for 27 months. 

==Tunisia national football team==
[[File:Stade olympique de Sousse.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Interior view of the stadium.]]
[[File:Stade olympique de Sousse, 13 avril 2016 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Exterior view of the stadium.]]

The following [[Tunisia national football team|national team]] matches were held in the stadium.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Date !! Score !! Opponent !! Competition
|- style="background: #CCFFCC"
| 1. || 23 March 1983 || 1–0 || {{fb|Morocco}} || [[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|- style="background: #CCFFCC"
| 2. || 2 January 1995 || 2–0 || {{fb|Egypt}} || Friendly
|- style="background: #CCFFCC"
| 3. || 6 October 1996 || 2–0 || {{fb|Sierra Leone}} || [[1998 Africa Cup of Nations qualification]]
|- style="background: #FFFFCC"
| 4. || 2 May 1998 || 1–1 || {{fb|Georgia}} || Friendly
|- style="background: #FFFFCC"
| 5. || 12 August 2009 || 0–0 || {{fb|Côte d'Ivoire}} || Friendly
|- style="background: #CCFFCC"
| 6. || 29 May 2011 || 3–0 || {{fb|Central Africa}} || Friendly
|- style="background: #CCFFCC"
| 7. || 3 June 2011 || 5–0 || {{fb|Chad}} || [[2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification]]
|- style="background: #FFCCCC"
| 8. || 14 November 2012 || 1–2 || {{fb|Switzerland}} || Friendly
|- style="background: #FFCCCC"
| 9. || 6 July 2013 || 0–1 || {{fb|Morocco}} || [[2014 African Nations Championship qualification]]
|}

==Major tournaments==
===1977 FIFA U-20 World Cup===
Stade Olympique de Sousse served as a venue for the tournament. It hosted all the matches of Group C. The games were:

{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="text-align:left; width:100%;"
|-
!Date
!Time
!Team #1
!Res.
!Team #2
!Round
|-
|27 June 1977||style="text-align:center;"|12:00||{{fbu|20|ITA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–1||{{fbu|20|CIV}} ||Group C
|-
|27 June 1977||style="text-align:center;"|16:00||{{fbu|20|BRA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|5–1||{{fbu|20|IRN|1964}} ||Group C
|-
|30 June 1977||style="text-align:center;"|12:00||{{fbu|20|IRN|1964}} ||style="text-align:center;"|0–0||{{fbu|20|ITA}} ||Group C
|-
|30 June 1977||style="text-align:center;"|16:00||{{fbu|20|CIV}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–1||{{fbu|20|BRA}} ||Group C
|-
|3 July 1977||style="text-align:center;"|12:00||{{fbu|20|IRN|1964}} ||style="text-align:center;"|3–0||{{fbu|20|CIV}} ||Group C
|-
|3 July 1977||style="text-align:center;"|16:00||{{fbu|20|BRA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|2–0||{{fbu|20|ITA}} ||Group C
|}

===1994 Africa Cup of Nations===
Stade Olympique de Sousse served as a venue for the tournament. It hosted six matches of the group stage, and two matches of quarter-finals. The games were:

{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="text-align:left; width:100%;"
|-
!Date
!Team #1
!Res.
!Team #2
!Round
!Attendance
|-
|27 March 1994||{{fb|CIV}} ||style="text-align:center;"|4–0||{{fb|SLE}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|10,000
|-
|27 March 1994||{{fb|GHA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–0||{{fb|GUI}} ||Group D||style="text-align:center;"|10,000
|-
|29 March 1994||{{fb|ZAM}} ||style="text-align:center;"|0–0||{{fb|SLE}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|6,000
|-
|29 March 1994||{{fb|SEN}} ||style="text-align:center;"|2–1||{{fb|GUI}} ||Group D||style="text-align:center;"|6,000
|-
|31 March 1994||{{fb|ZAM}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–0||{{fb|CIV}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|6,000
|-
|31 March 1994||{{fb|GHA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–0||{{fb|SEN}} ||Group D||style="text-align:center;"|6,000
|-
|3 April 1994||{{fb|ZAM}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–0||{{fb|SEN}} ||Quarter-finals||style="text-align:center;"|8,000
|-
|3 April 1994||{{fb|GHA}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–2||{{fb|CIV}} ||Quarter-finals||style="text-align:center;"|8,000
|}

===2001 Mediterranean Games===
Stade Olympique de Sousse served as a venue for the tournament. It hosted all the matches of Group B. The games were:

{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="text-align:left; width:100%;"
|-
!Date
!Team #1
!Res.
!Team #2
!Round
|-
|5 September 2001||style="text-align:center;"|{{fbu|21|GRE}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–2||{{fbu|21|TUR}} ||Group B
|-
|9 September 2001||style="text-align:center;"|{{fbu|21|TUR}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–1||{{fbu|20|LBY|1977}} ||Group B
|-
|11 September 2001||style="text-align:center;"|{{fbu|21|GRE}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–0||{{fbu|20|LBY|1977}} ||Group B
|}

===2004 Africa Cup of Nations===
Stade Olympique de Sousse served as a venue for the tournament. It hosted four matches of the group stage, and one match of semi-finals. The games were:

{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="text-align:left; width:100%;"
|-
!Date
!Time
!Team #1
!Res.
!Team #2
!Round
!Attendance
|-
|25 January 2004||style="text-align:center;"|19:00||{{fb|CMR}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–1||{{fb|ALG}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|20,000
|-
|29 January 2004||style="text-align:center;"|19:00||{{fb|ALG}} ||style="text-align:center;"|2–1||{{fb|EGY}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|15,000
|-
|3 February 2004||style="text-align:center;"|14:00||{{fb|ALG}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–2||{{fb|ZIM}} ||Group C||style="text-align:center;"|10,000
|-
|4 February 2004||style="text-align:center;"|18:00||{{fb|MAR}} ||style="text-align:center;"|1–1||{{fb|RSA}} ||Group D||style="text-align:center;"|6,000
|-
|11 February 2004||style="text-align:center;"|19:00||{{fb|MAR}} ||style="text-align:center;"|4–0||{{fb|MLI}} ||Semi-finals||style="text-align:center;"|15,000
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://cafe.daum.net/stade/5BHw/23 Photos of Stadiums in Tunisia] at [https://cafe.daum.net/stade/ cafe.daum.net/stade]
*[http://ess.maxifoot.com/photos/images/trophees/caf2006/3.jpg Stade Olympique de Sousse]
*[https://charlstraveljournal.com/2020/06/24/stade-olympique-de-sousse/ Stadium Guide]

{{Étoile Sportive du Sahel}}
{{2004 African Cup of Nations Venues}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stade Olympique De Sousse}}
[[Category:Football venues in Tunisia|Sousse]]
[[Category:Athletics (track and field) venues in Tunisia|Sousse]]
[[Category:Multi-purpose stadiums in Tunisia]]
[[Category:Étoile Sportive du Sahel]]