Mandela National Stadium Verified listing

Mandela National Stadium

Mandela National Stadium, universally known to Ugandans as Namboole, is the country's national stadium, sitting on Namboole Hill in Kira Municipality near Kampala. Built with a $36 million grant from China, it opened in December 1997 with a concert by South African reggae star Lucky Dube, and was named in honour of Nelson Mandela, who toured the unfinished site with President Museveni beforehand.

Football is the stadium's heartbeat. It has long been home to the Uganda Cranes national team along with domestic sides Uganda Revenue Authority and Police FC, hosting World Cup qualifiers, CAF competitions and Uganda Premier League matches over the decades. In 2020, CAF blacklisted the venue over substandard facilities, prompting a major rebuild led by the Uganda People's Defence Forces. It reopened with new seating, pitch and floodlighting, returning to international duty by hosting group stage, quarterfinal and third-place matches at the 2024 African Nations Championship. Beyond football, it also caters to athletics, rugby, concerts and national ceremonies.

Capacity has shifted across renovations over the years, generally cited between roughly 38,000 and 45,000 depending on the phase of works, with a further expansion targeting around 64,000 seats underway since 2026.