Stadium news #8
The Grand stade de Casablanca is a proposed title of a planned stadium in Casablanca. In 2013, Morocco hosted the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup matches in Africa. The world championship for football clubs was won by FC Bayern München from Germany after defeating Raja, the first Moroccan football club in a world championship final, 2-0. Raja became the second African football club in a world championship final. TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the first one when they faced the Italian football giants FC Internazionale Milano in 2010.
FIFA World Cup bids
The FRMF, the governing body of football in Morocco, announced that it would submit a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on 11 August 2017. It started competing with a joint bid from Canada, the United Mexican States and the United States. The North American bid ultimately won the bidding contest. Stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000 for 2026 FIFA World Cup matches and a capacity of at least 80,000 for the opening match and the final. Edmonton and Toronto became the proposed Canadian host cities. Guadalupe, Mexico City and Zapopan became the proposed Mexican host cities.
The United States and planned FIFA World Cup participants
The 2026 FIFA World Cup games in the United States are planned to take place in Arlington, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, East Rutherford, Foxborough, Houston, Kansas City, Landover, Miami Gardens, Nashville, Orlando, Pasadena, Philadelphia, Santa Clara and Seattle. In 1994, East Rutherford, Foxborough, Orlando and Pasadena hosted FIFA World Cup games. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is planned to be the first edition of the tournament with 48 teams. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is planned to have 32 participants.
Morocco
The 2026 bid became Morocco’s fifth bid to host the FIFA World Cup. If it should have been successful, the proposed stadium in Casablanca should have hosted the final of the prestigious tournament. The proposed venue named Grand stade de Casablance has a planned capacity of 93,000. Raja Club Athletic and Wydad Athletic Club, two of the major sports clubs from Morocco, might play home games at the proposed stadium if it will be built. In 2019, Wydad became the first football club with 20 Moroccan top-flight football league titles. Their rivals Raja won the Moroccan top division 11 times in 2019.
