Franso Hariri Stadium

The Franso Hariri Stadium The ground has been shaped by several phases of change, beginning when it opened in 1956 with a capacity of 40,000. A major renovation in 1992 trimmed the numbers, and further upgrades in 2009 brought it to its current level, though the exact figure remains a matter of dispute between different records.

The stadium’s character is defined by its primary tenant, Erbil SC. The pitch is natural grass, but the club has announced plans to replace it with a hybrid surface as part of an ongoing project. The venue carries a heavy historical weight, having been renamed in 2001 after Franso Hariri, the assassinated governor of the Kurdistan Region.

It is a ground that has hosted events far beyond the local league. The stadium welcomed Pope Francis for a mass in 2021 and served as the final venue for the 2012 Viva World Cup. The stands fill for Iraq national team qualifiers, such as the 24,000-strong crowd that watched the match against Jordan in 2011.