Sikasso is the most cosmopolitan of Mali's venues, being close to the border with Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
It is Mali's greenest city and was built in a forest teeming with elephants, hence its original name of "Solo-khan" or village of elephants.
Every local community has contributed to the cost of building the stadium, which is named after a Malian hero who killed himself rather than being taken alive by French colonialists.