Grand Stade Hassan II: 115,000 seats, 40% built, delivery late 2027 or 2028?

The Grand Stade Hassan II is not in Casablanca, but in Benslimane, some forty kilometres to the north-east. That is where Morocco is building the showpiece stadium of its World Cup: 115,000 seats spread over three tiers (22,600, 30,600 and 62,000 according to the press visit organised in May 2026), under a vast stretched fabric canopy shaped like a tent, with the pitch left open to the sky.

The site in figures

• 40% complete, as announced during the visit of 25 May 2026.
• 10,000 workers across three shifts, day and night, 24 cranes, four concrete batching plants, and a site split into four independent zones (June 2026).
• A 100-hectare complex, 64 km of new roads.
• Architects: Tarik Oualalou (Oualalou + Choi) with Populous.
• The roof and façade package (MAD 3.7 billion) awarded to the SGTM–TGCC consortium.

The official count: 114,414 seats

The “115,000 seats” announced from the outset is a communication figure. The bill of quantities for the seat supply and installation contract counts exactly 114,414. This package, lot 9 of the project, was put out to tender by ANEP on behalf of Sonarges, with an estimate of MAD 277.5 million, a provisional bond of MAD 4 million and a 14-month execution period. Bids were opened on 23 September 2026.

The breakdown shows what a final venue has to provide: 98,579 tip-up seats for the general public, 6,396 hospitality places, 2,754 in skyboxes, 1,992 VIP and 359 VVIP, 3,320 places for the media (1,746 observers and 1,574 rotating press positions), plus 500 companion seats for people with reduced mobility, 400 with a removable armrest and about a hundred extra-wide seats. Written press will have 504 three-seat desks and 62 individual ones.

A second contract, lot 8, covers the playing area for MAD 92.5 million including tax: 8,150 m² of hybrid natural turf, 2,650 m² of synthetic turf, 5,500 m² of decorative grass, nine mobile 440 m² LED horticultural lighting units and two of 120 m², and six fans. Seats and pitch together, these two packages are worth MAD 370 million.

Delivery and cost: the sources do not agree

This is the point to watch. Médias24 (May 2026) cites delivery in December 2027. Al Jazeera (January 2026), StadiumDB and Infobae (August 2026) refer to late 2028. On cost, you will read MAD 5 billion (initial estimate), MAD 7.45 billion committed at the end of March 2026 and MAD 9.7 billion in contracts awarded according to the May visit. The count has climbed again since: according to a tally by Le Desk relayed on 2 October 2026, contracts awarded or put out to tender around the stadium now reach MAD 13.6 billion, roughly 1.24 billion euros, more than 2.7 times the original estimate. Mind what that figure measures: it adds up packages already awarded and packages merely put out to tender, including the surrounding works announced at MAD 2.68 billion. So it is not money actually spent, and the total can still move. Until the Morocco 2030 Foundation publishes an official schedule, stick to “before 2030” and nothing more precise.

On 28 October 2026, an official voice finally gave a date. Speaking on 2M’s « Sa’at Al Saraha » programme, the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said the stadium would be ready in early 2028. He added that it would then host matches involving the Moroccan national team, Raja and Wydad, plus several events and test competitions before 2030, giving organisers time to rehearse the logistics of a major international fixture. This is the first precise deadline from an official of that rank, and it sits between the « December 2027 » quoted by Médias24 and the « late 2028 » of the stadium databases. It is still a television statement rather than a schedule published by the Morocco 2030 Foundation, so caution keeps its place, but the range is tightening around early 2028.

Final or opening match?

The stadium is Morocco’s candidate for the final of 21 July 2030, up against the Bernabéu and the Camp Nou, and it is regularly tipped for the opening match of the main tournament. Neither allocation has been decided by FIFA — see our article on the final.

On 28 October 2026, Fouzi Lekjaa said he was confident about Benslimane’s chances of hosting the final, noting that capacity is one of the first criteria FIFA looks at. That is a bid argument, not a decision: FIFA has still announced nothing.

Getting there

Today, access is by road only. For 2030, a station is planned at Benslimane on the Kenitra–Marrakech high-speed line (opening targeted for November 2029), along with an underground station beneath the new terminal at Mohammed V airport (delivery 2029).