Ethiopia eyes home advantage with Bahir Dar Stadium progress

The Bahir Dar Stadium construction is nearing completion, giving a much-needed boost for the Ethiopian national team to play at home when the group stage of 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying kicks off in September 2026. The 52,000-capacity stadium has been undergoing a massive renovation for the last five years.

The stadium construction has taken longer than expected, as it took more than 18 years to build. The stadium hosted the Ethiopian Premier League, CECAFA U23 Championship, CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, AFCON, and FIFA World Cup qualifiers after being opened for use in 2015.

Nonetheless, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deemed it unfit to host continental matches in 2021, forcing the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) to find alternative stadiums outside the country.

The Amhara Regional State Culture, Tourism and Sport Bureau deputy head, Gashaw Tekeba, told AMECO Sport that the stadium is nearing completion.

“The Bahir Dar Stadium needs to fulfill four criteria set by CAF so that it can host games. The first one is the playing field, which is now improving. We have also installed new floodlights. We have worked on the VIP section and media rooms as well. The changing rooms have been upgraded to meet standards. If we can certify all these, we will get the accreditation we need to host games,” said Tekeba.

Ethiopia played at home after a five-year hiatus in late March, as they pipped São Tomé and Príncipe 1-0 at Dire Dawa Stadium. The EFF will be hoping the current progress at Bahir Dar Stadium will persuade CAF to accredit the stadium before the AFCON 2027 group qualifiers kick off.

በሁሉም አካባቢዎች የስፖርት ማዘውተሪያዎችን ማስፋፋት የአካታች ልማት እና የጤና ፖሊሲያችን ተደማሪ መርህ ነው።

በባሕር ዳር ዓለም አቀፍ ስታዲየም ባደረግነው ጉብኝትም በቢኬጅ በተገነቡ ውብና አዳዲስ የመጫወቻ ሜዳዎች ላይ የእግር ኳስ ጨዋታ… pic.twitter.com/H6II2Qps2F

— Temesgen Tiruneh – ተመስገን ጥሩነህ 🇪🇹 (@TemesgenTiru) March 27, 2026

EFF president Esayas Jira previously stated that travel and accommodation costs have soared in recent times, challenging the federation’s financial stability. Playing at home will boost the Waliyas’ home advantage. The nation has qualified for AFCON twice in the past 16 years while playing the majority of their home games in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar.