The reporter reported coldly Where is the largest stadium in the world? Longtime fans may think of the Maracanã in Brazil, but the answer will change by the end of 2027: the Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, will be inaugurated with a capacity of 115,000 people, the first in the world.
The 500 million euro stadium was originally used to bid for the 2010 World Cup. However, the design capacity at that time was less than 100,000, and after Morocco's bid lost to South Africa, the construction of the stadium came to a standstill. After that, Morocco continued its bid to host the 2026 World Cup, but the stadium project was shelved again due to the failure of the bid after the restart. In October 2023, Morocco joined the Spanish and Portuguese bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Not willing to be a foil, the new design expanded the stadium capacity to 115,000, the largest in the world, surpassing the renovated Camp Nou (105,000) and the Bernabeu (78,000), aiming to win the 2030 World Cup final.
The Moroccan royal family approached Populous, the company that designed the new stadium of Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur, as the main designer of the world's largest football stadium. Three years ago, the Glazer family had asked Populous to design United's new home stadium, but after Ratcliffe took charge of the day-to-day affairs of Manchester United, the design rights were handed over to his friend Lord Foster.
In addition to being the world's largest in terms of capacity, the biggest highlight of the Hassan II Stadium is the aluminium canopy that combines Arabian tents and Moroccan landmark elements, and the white exterior is in the traditional style of the Moroccan Mussem Festival.
The Hassan II Stadium is divided into three floors, with a capacity of 29,500 people on each floor, and VIP boxes on either side of the stadium that can accommodate 12,000 people, as well as royal boxes for dignitaries and VIPs. Originally, the Hassan II Stadium was planned to be completed in 2028, but in order to coincide with the launch of the FIFA World Cup host stadium, the construction schedule was brought forward to December 2027. King Mohammed VI of Morocco plans to invite FIFA President Gianni Infantino to come, hoping that he will be able to award the final to Morocco after seeing the "true face" of the world's largest stadium.
The Moroccan media defined the Hassan II Stadium as "the largest in the world", but there is still controversy.The largest stadium in history was the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil. As the venue for the 1950 World Cup finals, the stadium was designed to have a capacity of 155,000, including 30,000 standing seats, 93,500 ordinary seats, 30,000 premium seats, and a private room with 1,500 seats. In the 1969 World Preliminary Tournament, the number of fans reached 183341, setting a world record. The official attendance for the 1950 World Cup final was 173,850, but it actually exceeded 200,000. After hosting the 2014 World Cup and modernising it, the capacity of the Maracanã stadium was reduced to 73,100. Not only did they lose the title of number one in the world, but even in South America, they were smaller than the Monumental Stadium in Argentina (85,000) and the Monumental Stadium in Peru (80,000).
The largest stadium in the world is the Modi Stadium in India. The cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, has a capacity of 132,000 but only 114,600 seats, 400 fewer than the Hassan II Stadium, and is only used for cricket, not football.The May Day Stadium on Ayala Island in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, had a capacity of 148,900 before the renovation, but now the maximum capacity of the complex has dropped to 113,300, also lagging behind Hassan II Stadium.
In addition to the first two, the other eight of the top 10 existing stadiums are in the United States, but none have more than 108,000 capacity, and all are used for American football.Once completed, Barça's Camp Nou will have an increased capacity from the current 99,400 to 105,000, the largest stadium in Europe, but 10,000 fewer than the Hassan II Stadium.
China's largest stadiums are the Beijing National Stadium and the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center and the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center, both with only 80,000 capacity, ranking outside the top 10 in the Asia-Pacific region.