Field of dreams
The centrepiece of Morocco’s 2030 Fifa World Cup will be the opening of Casablanca’s Stade Hassan II, the largest football stadium in the world. More than just an impressive piece of design, it serves as a physical embodiment of the country’s wider ambitions.
Sporting design
Stade Hassan II
The world’s largest football stadium will be the embodiment of Morocco’s visionary leadership.
His Majesty King Mohammed VI has turned sport into more than just a national pastime. In his visionary leadership of Morocco, it has become a strategic pillar for social, economic and diplomatic development, from improved performance and facilities to federal governance and investment opportunities. Football is central to this soft-power push, including the Morocco national team’s feel-good run to the 2022 Fifa World Cup semi-finals, and the country’s successful hosting of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. So, when it came to co-hosting the 2030 Fifa World Cup, King Mohammed knew that a grand stage was required.
Morocco’s Stade Hassan II will be the biggest in the world, with a capacity of 115,000. It is designed by Paris-based architects Oualalou+Choi in partnership with Populous and construction has begun in Benslimane, to the east of Casablanca. The stadium will be the showpiece of the biggest football festival on earth, with its legacy continuing as the home of two Casablanca football clubs after the tournament ends.
The stadium’s design represents a moussem, a temporary nomadic festival, and it is has an aluminium lattice canopy that provides a stylish twist on generic stadium design. “A village of tents represents hospitality, welcome and celebration, deeply rooted in the mountains,” says Tarik Oualalou, the studio’s co-founder. “This form is profoundly Moroccan, but it has been transformed, adapted and developed.”
The stadium is set in a thriving forest overlooking a river. Over time, it is hoped that the structure will become entwined with the environment. It is, says Oualalou proudly, an altogether new kind of building, which connects to nature rather than separates from it. “This allows the relationship between interior and exterior to remain fluid, offering new forms of experience within the landscape,” he adds.
Adapting to the climate
Casablanca enjoys sea winds and humidity. The stadium’s permeable canopy allows air and heat to flow in and out, making it part of the climate and not a barrier against it.
