Morocco promises to build 7 new stadiums if winning 2026 World Cup bid

RABAT - Morocco promises to build seven new stadiums in case the north African kingdom wins the bid to host the 2026 World Cup, local media reported on Tuesday.

Morocco will set up six stadiums with 45,000 seat capacity as well as a 100,000-seat stadium in the country's largest city of Casablanca, the Moroccan Sports and Youth Minister Rachid Talbi Alami said in an interview with Medias24.com news site.

These seven new stadiums will add up to five old ones as well as to two others under construction in the northern city of Tetouan and the eastern city of Oujda respectively, Alami noted.

The construction of the new stadiums and renovation of the old ones will cost between $800 million and $1 billion, he expected.

The stadiums will be located in 12 cities, namely Casablanca, Marrakesh, Rabat, Fez, Oujda, Tangier, Tetuan, Nador, Meknes, El Jadida, Agadir and Ouarzazate.

The team tasked with Morocco 2026 bid must submit their book, containing all plans for stadiums, infrastructure, transport and so forth by March 16.

Last August, Morocco submitted their application to host the 2026 World Cup to the world football governing body FIFA, positioning themselves as the sole challenger to the joint submission from Canada, Mexico and the United States.

This is Morocco's fifth bid to host the World Cup, after their unsuccessful bids for the 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 editions of the tournament.