Heroes National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 millio ...

, Lusaka Province,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

matches and hosts the home matches of the

Zambia national football team The Zambia national football team represents Zambia in men's international association football and it is governed by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). During the 1980s, they were known as the KK 11, after founding president Dr. Kennet ...

. The stadium holds 60,000 spectators. It opened in 2014. The name of the stadium refers to the

1993 Zambia national football team air disaster On the evening of 27 April 1993, a DHC-5 Buffalo transport aircraft of the Zambian Air Force crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Libreville, Gabon. The flight was carrying most of the Zambian national football team to ...

which took the lives of most of its national football team.

History

Upon completion of construction in 2013, it was originally named the Gabon Disaster Heroes National Stadium because of this, but the ruling Patriotic Front government was pressured to change the name by the populace. On 7 July 2021, a state funeral of former President

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Diss ...

was held at the National Heroes Stadium.

Geography

The stadium's location is in the northern suburbs of

, Lusaka Province (Zambia's Capital City) on the Great North Road ( T2 Road). The Heroes National Stadium is located right next to where the refurbished

Independence Stadium Independence Stadium may also refer to: * Independence Stadium (Bakau) in Gambia * Independence Stadium (Namibia) in Windhoek * Independence Stadium (South Africa) in Mthatha, a football stadium in South Africa * Independence Stadium (Tanzania ...

and the Heroes Acres Memorial where the players who died in the Gabon air disaster in 1993 are buried.

References

Buildings and structures in Lusaka Football venues in Zambia Multi-purpose stadiums in Zambia {{Zambia-sports-venue-stub