Rabat - Morocco’s 2026 World Cup Bid Committee will publicly unveil its formal application in a press conference to be held on Saturday, March 17.
Rabat – Morocco’s 2026 World Cup Bid Committee will publicly unveil its formal application in a press conference to be held on Saturday, March 17.
The Moroccan committee has finalized its formal application for the international football organization, FIFA, to be submitted on Friday in Bogotá, Colombia.
The chairman of the Moroccan bid, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, will unveil Morocco’s bid file on Saturday at a press conference following the FIFA submission.
During the press conference, according to Moroccan newspaper Al Massae, Elalamy will explain the financing sources of the Moroccan bid promotion campaign, as well as the infrastructure projects that will accompany the construction of the new stadiums.
A budget of MAD 10 billion would be devoted to preparation for the competition, which will take place in 12 cities if Morocco were to secure the bid, according to Morocco’s Minister of Sports and Youth Rachid Talbi Alami.
The list of the cities includes Casablanca, Rabat, El Jadida, Marrakech, Agadir, Ouarzazate, Oujda, Nador, Fez, Meknes, Tangier, and Tetouan.
The 2026 World Cup will see the participation of 48 squads. To host the tournament, the host country must be equipped with stadiums with a capacity of 40,000 for pool matches, 60,000 for the semi-final games, and 80,000 spots for the final match.
Morocco is planning to build six 40,000-seat stadiums, in addition to a seventh 100,000-seat stadium in Casablanca.
The new stadiums would join five stadiums already built in the country. Two others are currently being built in Tetouan and Oujda.
Rachid Talbi Alami, Morocco’s Minister of Sports and Youth, told Moroccan news outlet Media24 that the construction of the stadiums and the renovation of older existing ones will cost between USD 800 million and one billion.
In early March, the North African country emphasized its strengths to prove that it has the assets to host the world tournament, including Morocco’s ideal geographical situation of Morocco and time zone similar to that of Europe and Africa, as well as the flying time between the hosting cities.
Morocco submitted its candidacy to host the tournament on August 11, 2017. Two hundred and eleven football associations are set to cast their vote for their favorite bids on June 13, in Moscow, Russia.
Morocco’s bid is competing against the three-nations North American bid (USA-Mexico-Canada).
