# Sousse Olympic Stadium

The Sousse Olympic Stadium (Arabic: الملعب الأولمبي بسوسة) is a multi-purpose stadium in Sousse, Tunisia. It is used by the football team Étoile du Sahel, and was used for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 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 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 Moez Driss in 2008. The Olympic Stadium of Sousse also hosted some of the Libyan national team’s matches due to the Libyan war, such as Libya and 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 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

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.
| # | Date | Score | Opponent | Competition |
| 1. | 23 March 1983 | 1–0 | Morocco | Friendly |
| 2. | 2 January 1995 | 2–0 | Egypt | Friendly |
| 3. | 6 October 1996 | 2–0 | Sierra Leone | 1998 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 4. | 2 May 1998 | 1–1 | Georgia | Friendly |
| 5. | 12 August 2009 | 0–0 | Ivory Coast | Friendly |
| 6. | 29 May 2011 | 3–0 | Central African Republic | Friendly |
| 7. | 3 June 2011 | 5–0 | Chad | 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 8. | 14 November 2012 | 1–2 | Switzerland | Friendly |
| 9. | 6 July 2013 | 0–1 | 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:
| Date | Time | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round |
| 27 June 1977 | 12:00 | Italy | 1–1 | Ivory Coast | Group C |
| 27 June 1977 | 16:00 | Brazil | 5–1 | Iran | Group C |
| 30 June 1977 | 12:00 | Iran | 0–0 | Italy | Group C |
| 30 June 1977 | 16:00 | Ivory Coast | 1–1 | Brazil | Group C |
| 3 July 1977 | 12:00 | Iran | 3–0 | Ivory Coast | Group C |
| 3 July 1977 | 16:00 | Brazil | 2–0 | Italy | 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:
| Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
| 27 March 1994 | Ivory Coast | 4–0 | Sierra Leone | Group C | 10,000 |
| 27 March 1994 | Ghana | 1–0 | Guinea | Group D | 10,000 |
| 29 March 1994 | Zambia | 0–0 | Sierra Leone | Group C | 6,000 |
| 29 March 1994 | Senegal | 2–1 | Guinea | Group D | 6,000 |
| 31 March 1994 | Zambia | 1–0 | Ivory Coast | Group C | 6,000 |
| 31 March 1994 | Ghana | 1–0 | Senegal | Group D | 6,000 |
| 3 April 1994 | Zambia | 1–0 | Senegal | Quarter-finals | 8,000 |
| 3 April 1994 | Ghana | 1–2 | Ivory Coast | Quarter-finals | 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:
| Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round |
| 5 September 2001 | Greece | 1–2 | Turkey | Group B |
| 9 September 2001 | Turkey | 1–1 | Libya | Group B |
| 11 September 2001 | Greece | 1–0 | Libya | 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:
| Date | Time | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
| 25 January 2004 | 19:00 | Cameroon | 1–1 | Algeria | Group C | 20,000 |
| 29 January 2004 | 19:00 | Algeria | 2–1 | Egypt | Group C | 15,000 |
| 3 February 2004 | 14:00 | Algeria | 1–2 | Zimbabwe | Group C | 10,000 |
| 4 February 2004 | 18:00 | Morocco | 1–1 | South Africa | Group D | 6,000 |
| 11 February 2004 | 19:00 | Morocco | 4–0 | Mali | Semi-finals | 15,000 |