Today is a momentous occasion for Ugandan football, as the Uganda Cranes will be hosting Botswana at 7 pm at the iconic Namboole Stadium, for the first time since 2019.
It has been a long wait for fans and players to return to Uganda’s iconic stadium, nicknamed as the “football cathedral”, a venue where the Uganda Cranes always managed to get positive results no matter the circumstances.
Uganda Cranes will be playing Botswana tonight in the first game of the two world cup qualifiers scheduled to take place today and Monday, June 10th.
Namboole Stadium last hosted a Uganda Cranes game on November 17th, 2019, an AFCON qualifier game against Malawi, which Uganda won 2-0, courtsey of goals from Emmanuel Okwi and Fahad Bayo.
After that, the facility, which was officially opened in 1997, was blacklisted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), giving reasons that it was too substandard to host international games.
The national team was then forced to host matches at other venues, including the MTN Omondi stadium in Lugogo, St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende, and even in outside countries like Egypt.
The UPDF Engineering Brigade was tasked with the job of renovating the stadium back to it’s standards, and phased renovation works started in February 2022.
On May 1st this year, the renovated stadium reopened, and hosted two local test games to assess it’s readiness to host the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Although the stadium was cleared by CAF on May 13th to host the qualifiers, there were a few areas that needed improvement.
On June 4th, The Minister of State for Sports, Peter Ogwang, announced that the refurbished Namboole Stadium was now ready to host international games.
“There are critical areas where they wanted us to improve, but I want to confirm that as government, we’ve done our part in rectifying all issues,” Ogwang stated in an interview with NBS Sport.
The stadium now boasts of a new world-class playing surface, painted structures, seats for fans, advertising boards, a media tribune and many other upgrades.
For the Uganda Cranes, the return to their fortress is crucial, as they aim to capitalise on the home advantage and secure victories against Botswana and Algeria in their World Cup qualifiers.
The Cranes currently sit fourth in their World Cup qualifying group G with just three points from their opening two games. A strong performance at Namboole could be the key to their hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history.
