Morocco announces Casablanca as 2030 World Cup final venue

Morocco has announced that Casablanca will host the final of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, despite FIFA yet to officially confirm the venue for the tournament’s showpiece match.

President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, disclosed the plan on Thursday at a political party event in Bouznika, Morocco.

Lekjaa was quoted by Spanish news agency EFE as saying the Benslimane province, near Casablanca, would have the honour of hosting the final.

“The province of Benslimane will have the honour of hosting the 2030 World Cup final,” Lekjaa said.

Benslimane is located about 60 kilometres from Casablanca and is the planned site of the Hassan II Stadium, which is currently under construction for the tournament.

The proposed stadium is expected to accommodate 115,000 spectators, potentially making it the largest football-specific stadium in the world. The project is estimated to cost around $12 billion.

However, FIFA has yet to officially announce the venue for the final, with Morocco and Spain both pushing to stage the match.

The president of the Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzán, said earlier this month that Spain should host the final.

FIFA also dismissed reports in August claiming that its president, Gianni Infantino, had promised Morocco the final, describing the reports as “false and misleading”.

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The disagreement comes as preparations continue for the 2030 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

FIFA confirmed the three countries as the main hosts in December 2024, while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each stage one centenary celebration match.

The tournament will therefore span six countries across three continents as part of celebrations marking 100 years since the first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930.

The opening three matches are scheduled to take place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the tournament moves primarily to Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

FIFA has yet to finalise all the cities that will host matches at the tournament, while the battle over the final venue has emerged as a major point of disagreement between Morocco and Spain.

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