Five years and eleven months remain until the 2030 FIFA World Cup final, and the stadium’s design has finally been made public. The latest one is the Grand Stade Hassan II.

With a planned capacity of 115,000, the Grand Stade Hassan II soccer stadium in Morocco—one of the three nations co-hosting the event along with Spain and Portugal—is being hailed by designers Oualolou + Choi and Populous as possibly “the largest football stadium in the world.”

Situated on a 100-hectare (about 247-acre) plot in El Mansouria, a village north of Casablanca, the stadium’s design, according to Populous, is reminiscent of a “moussem,” a traditional community tent. An aluminum lattice covering the stadium’s seating areas, tiered gardens outside the stands, and a ground-level botanical garden will be the Grande Stade’s design.

In a news release, Tarik Oualalou, design principal and founding partner at Oualalou + Choi, stated that the design “is deeply rooted in Moroccan culture, with its traditions and contemporary expressions.” “It is rooted in the topography and landscapes of Morocco, as well as in ancient and primordial figures such as the Moussem, the tent, and the garden.”

The arrangement looks to be specifically designed for FIFA World Cup events. The press release states that the main portion will be devoted to boxes, hospitality, VIPs, and VVIPs. The stands itself will be divided into zones for general admission spectators at each end (capacity almost 30,000 apiece).

So how does the Grand Stade Hassan II compare to other absurdly large stadiums?

The largest stadium of all is the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, which can accommodate 132,000 spectators in 2021. The largest American football stadium is the Michigan Wolverines Stadium in the NCAA, which can accommodate over 107,000 supporters.

The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, is the largest soccer stadium in the world. It is a multipurpose arena and one of the most inaccessible in the world. Established in 1989, the official capacity of the facility is 150,000. However, modifications during the 2010s prompted an analysis by the website Stadium Database, which determined that the venue can accommodate just 114,000 spectators.

Is it a coincidence that there will be 1,000 extra seats at Grande Stade Hassan II? Maybe not.

Large sporting stadiums are nothing new to Populous. It was responsible for the construction of the Emirates Stadium in London, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, twelve Olympic sites, and numerous stadiums across the globe.

Morocco eventually succeeded in hosting the FIFA World Cup after five failed attempts. In October 2023, FIFA announced that Morocco, along with Spain and Portugal, would co-host the 2030 finals. This unique, extended tournament setup includes one centennial game each in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay.

Although FIFA has not yet decided, Real Madrid’s recently renovated Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is considered as the favorite. The Grande Stade Hassan II’s design team states that the stadium will be “fully compliant for FIFA competitions”. They also said that it will have “the ability to host the final” of the 2030 World Cup.

Groundworks have started at the site outside of Casablanca. Therefor, in the upcoming years, you should be able to witness the realization of this impressive design.