Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host 2030 World Cup

RABAT, Jan 19 : Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no scepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.

Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.

Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.

The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.

Sunday’s final saw Senegal edge Morocco 1-0 after extra time, having stormed off when a penalty was awarded against them in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes. Morocco's Brahim Diaz missed the spot kick and Senegal won with a Pape Gueye goal.

The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.

Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.

But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the kingdom.

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