Oualalou + Choi and Populous to design Grand Stade de Casablanca, the world's largest soccer stadium, in Morocco

The bid from Oualalou + Choi and Populous to design the Grand Stade de Casablanca stadium in Morocco has been named the winner of an international competition that will deliver the world’s largest soccer stadium to the country in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Their team will have the responsibility of designing and constructing a 115,000-seat stadium on a 100-hectare site 24 miles north of Casablanca between 2025 and 2028. The budget is being reported as $500 million. No renderings of the design were made public with the announcement.

Tarik Oualalou, Design Principal of Oualalou + Choi and one of the Lead Architects for the project, said it would be the "embodiment of the great tradition of Moroccan hospitality."

François Clément, Senior Principal, President of Populous France, and another Lead Architect, promised: "The pace of construction works expected in Benslimane demonstrates the commitment of all parties involved to deliver this incredible project on time and within budget. It will be an immense asset to the country, elevating Morocco to the highest global platform of sporting infrastructure development."

The inspiration is a "moussem," a social gathering space endemic to the country. 

Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Cruz y Ortiz, GMP Architects, and HPP were the firms that finished behind Populous on the shortlist chosen by the National Agency for Public Facilities in the fall.

Both the local Raja CA and Wydad AC professional soccer clubs will use the facility after the tournament. The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be jointly co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. Populous recently debuted its plans for stadium projects in Kansas City, Long Island, Milan, and Saudi Arabia. 

Morocco, meanwhile, is still in the process of rebuilding after the devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck its western Atlas Mountains region in September 2023.