The Grand Stade de Casablanca, specially built for the 2030 World Cup, sees its chances of hosting the final slimmed down. According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, FIFA wants the final to be played at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home of Real Madrid.
Morocco appears to be losing ground in the race to host the 2030 World Cup final. Despite an official presentation of the project by senior Moroccan officials in Barcelona last month, FIFA prefers that the final be held in Madrid, in the 85,000 seats at the Santiago-Bernabéu.
The joint bid by Morocco, Spain and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup has not yet determined the venue for the final. Portugal, with its largest stadium, Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, does not meet the minimum capacity requirement of 80,000, with only 64,642 seats available.
However, recent institutional problems within the Spanish Federation are dampening FIFA’s enthusiasm. In addition, organizing the final at the Santiago Bernabéu would require several months of preparation during which Real Madrid would not be able to play in its stadium.
Given the financial stakes, FIFA has every interest in reaching an agreement with Madrid leaders. The excellent relations between Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid, and Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, should facilitate the negotiations.
This situation complicates the position of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, which launched the construction of the Grand Stade de Casablanca after the announcement of the organization of the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup. capacity of 115,000 seats, the initial objective was to host the 2030 World Cup final.
