POPULOUS AND OUALALOU + CHOI WIN GLOBAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN COMPETITION FOR MOROCCO’S 115,000 CAPACITY GRAND STADE DE CASABLANCA

Stadium projected to be the largest in world football

A consortium led by architects Oualalou + Choi and Populous has been awarded the contract to design the planned 115,000-capacity Grand Stade de Casablanca stadium in Morocco, projected to be the largest football stadium in the world.  The selection by the country’s National Agency for Public Facilities (ANEP) follows the completion of an international architectural design competition, which included proposals by firms Herzog & De Meuron, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Cruz y Ortiz, GMP Architects and HPP Architects.

The stadium will be fully compliant for FIFA competitions, with the ability to host games at the FIFA World Cup 2030, following Morocco’s naming as joint hosts for the tournament alongside Spain and Portugal. It will also serve as the home of two local clubs. Preparation for groundworks to start is underway on a 100-hectare site in the town of El Mansouria, in the province of Benslimane, 38 km north of Casablanca, after public financing was approved in October 2023.

Oualalou + Choi and Populous’ winning scheme draws inspiration from the traditional social gathering of Morocco known as a ‘moussem’, with the stadium structure set under a grand, tented roof that emerges as a dramatic intervention in the forested landscape. 

Engineering firms Maffeis Engineering, ME Engineering, Rider Levett Bucknall, Momentum, and SEPSI complete the design team.