FIFA World Cup finals will be returning to African soil in 2030, exactly two decades since South Africa staged the global football bonanza.
Morocco has been mandated to host the 2030 finals alongside its Mediterranean neighbours Spain and Portugal, who will share 101 matches, while the three opening fixtures will be held in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina as part of the tournament’s centenary celebrations.
Before the successful joint host bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup tournament,Morocco was unsuccessful in its previous five attempt bids in 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, and 2026.
Morocco Football Federation (FRMF), which enjoys great support from the royal kingdom government, has already started preparations to welcome the world in 2030 with the construction of an ultramodern stadium, the Grande Stade de Casablanca, an 113,000-seater football venue to a-tune of US 200 million dollars, equivalent to KES 30 billion.
Once completed, it will become the largest football stadium in Africa and the second-largest in the world after Barcelona’s Camp Nou, and it is likely to stage the 2030 World Cup final match.
According to the architect of the iconic stadium, their goal is to create a centre for sports and assembly events that is keenly in tune with the natural environment, geography, and history of the nation of Morocco.
The average useful life of sports facilities today is only 25–30 years.
Once complete, the Grand Stade de Casablanca will be used for a variety of events, ranging from local football matches seating 30,000 to regional events of up to 40,000 seats and international sporting events, such as the Africa Cup, of 80,000 seats.
The architect and team have also designed a 3-tier seating bowl where the majority of the seating (40,000 seats) occurs on the upper deck.
These upper deck seats will only be used for major events, probably less than five times annually.
Since the lower two tiers are smaller and more shallow, the upper bowl is also brought closer to the playing field.
Morocco, which has in the past played host to major global football tournaments such as the FIFA Club World Cup,Africa Cup of Nations, Africa Nations Championships, and the 2025 AFCON, will no doubt become a continental sports destination.
