2023 Africa Cup of Nations: Laurent Pokou Stadium inaugurated in San Pedro

The Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro, one of the venues for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023, was officially inaugurated on Saturday, 09 September 2023 by both Ivorian and CAF officials.

The handover and official opening of the stadium is another milestone in the journey of Cote d’Ivoire and CAF in preparations for next year’s TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023.

Out of the six venues to be used in January 2024, three have already hosted test matches. They are Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro and Stade de la Paix, in Bouaké.

On Tuesday, the Alassane Outtara Stadium in Ebimpe will host a test match between Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.

On Saturday, 09 September, the newly-built Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro hosted its first official match when Cote d’Ivoire beat Lesotho 1-0 in a TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023 Cote d’Ivoire Qualifier.

Named in honour of the iconic Ivorian striker, Laurent Pokou, the Stadium has a capacity of 20 000.  Nottingham Forest midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré scored the first-ever goal at the brand-new stadium on Saturday.

COCAN Vice-President and FIF President, Idriss Yacine Diallo, added: “The Ivorian authorities have made every effort to ensure that the teams qualified for the final phase have optimal conditions during the competition in Côte d’Ivoire. We have come here to San Pedro several times with the CAF delegations to ensure the progress of the work. We are very proud to be back in this beautiful stadium, which successfully hosted Lesotho on Saturday.”

’’We are convinced that, as was the case in Yamoussoukro during the inauguration of the Charles Konan Banny Stadium and in Bouaké on the occasion of the inauguration of the Stade de la Paix, the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro met all our expectations .”