Morocco renews push to host 2030 World Cup final

Morocco has reaffirmed its determination to stage the 2030 World Cup final at the planned Hassan II Stadium, despite FIFA yet to decide where the showpiece match will be played.

Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Moroccan Football Federation, said the country would mobilise all its institutions and citizens to ensure the final was held in Morocco. The tournament will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

“We will mobilise all our institutions and all Moroccans so that the Hassan II Stadium hosts the 2030 World Cup final, whether people like it or not,” Lekjaa told the Moroccan website Al Botola.

He added that the province of Ben Slimane, where the stadium is being built, would become a major centre for infrastructure and development if it hosted the match.

“By hosting this great final, the province of Ben Slimane will be the beating heart and centre of the development that the infrastructure will undergo,” he said.

It is not the first time Lekjaa has spoken publicly about Morocco’s ambition to organise the final.

Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, has also suggested that Morocco is likely to secure the match, citing Lekjaa’s influence within football’s governing structures.

“As long as Gianni Infantino is president of FIFA, and if there is no surprise, the 2030 World Cup final will be played in Morocco,” Tebas told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo days ago.

“Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Moroccan Football Federation, is a man with considerable influence. He is the finance minister and a member of the FIFA executive committee. If he says the final will be held in Morocco, he must have a reason for saying so,” Tebas added.

Tebas also referred to the planned Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca.

“If Morocco is building the Hassan II Stadium with these specifications, it certainly will not be for hosting a cricket final,” he said.

He went on to say: “I would prefer Spain to win the World Cup rather than the final being held in the Iberian Peninsula.”

“There have been many things in Spain in recent years that make no sense and, unfortunately, nothing surprises anyone any more,” Tebas concluded.

Morocco and Spain are competing to host the final, with FIFA yet to announce the venue. Several cities are in contention, including Casablanca, Madrid and Barcelona.

If the final is staged in Morocco, it would be only the second World Cup final held in Africa, following the 2010 edition in Johannesburg, where Spain won their first world title.

Spain previously hosted the World Cup final in 1982 at the Santiago Bernabeu, when Italy won the tournament.