World Cup
Morocco names six cites and stadiums for 2030 World Cup
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Barely 24 hours after being announced as a co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, Morocco has already named six stadiums for use at the landmark edition that marks 100 years since the World Cup began.
President of the Royal Morocco Football Federation (FRMF) Faouzi Lakjaa named the stadiums spread across Casablanca, Tangier, Rabat, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The prompt naming is apparently to illustrate the preparedness of the kingdom, even with one edition of the World Cup still ahead.
Most of the stadiums are time honoured and have been kept in good condition by the state run company, Société nationale de réalisation et de gestion des stades (SONARGES) which in English translates to National stadium construction and management company.
In Casablanca, the stadium to the used is Stade Mohammed V. It is a multi-purpose arena and the oldest stadium in Morocco. It is the home ground for local rivals, Wydad and Raja Casablanca.
In 1997, the stadium set a record of attendance of 110,000 during the Casablanca derby and a match between the Moroccan national team against Ghana. . The same record attendance was repeated during Morocco’s match against Argentina in 2004.
Tangier boast of Ibn Batouta Stadium, one of those used at the 2022 Club World Cup earlier this year. Nigeria also played against Liberia at the arena in one of the qualifying duels for the 2022 World Cup. It is named after a Moroccan scholar and explorer.
Another Centennial World Cup city is Marrakech. The Stade de Marrakech
has a unique architectural design. Situated some 11 km from the city centre. It is the first stadium in the world to be both rectangular and also incorporate an elliptical running track.
Designed by Italian firm, Gregotti Associati International, it is adorned in brick red colour outwardly to have an harmony with the ancient city that is noted for its trademark of red walls. Generally, Marrakech is nicknamed “Red City” as most buildings are constructed in red sandstone .
The stadium outwardly cut the picture of an ancient fort and having four towers at the corners of the unique arena.
Each tower carries a set of halogen lamps that illuminate the natural lush green grass and the main bowl. This may not be a coincidence. As the director of the stadium, Rachid Naifi explained, the shape refers to fortifications on one hand and to local architecture in general.
Another 2030 host city is Fez. It is the second largest city in Morocco and the northern inland part of the country has the Fez Stadium.
It is in this arena that a goal-scorer that qualified an African team into the semi-final of the World Cup is honoured.
Youssel En-Nesyri who leapt an incredible height of 2.78 metres to score Morocco’s winner against Portugal at the last World Cup has a huge photograph that captured the goal episode, adorning the Fez Stadium.
The stadium’s seats are in green and red depicting the national colours of Morocco.
En-Nesyri’s incredible jump cum goal set an eye-catching record as it reportedly outperformed Ronaldo’s famous 2.56-metre jump during a game with his former club Juventus in the 2019-2020 football season.
Both El-Nesyri and Ronaldo are of the same height. El-Nesyri is a native of the city of Fez. His astounding jump above Portugal’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa and defender, Ruben Dias culminating in a header into the net was described as highest jump in football goal scoring episodes.
His native Fez in Morocco has honoured him. According to Anass Erghnouni, the director of the Fez stadium, El-Nesyri started his football career as a youth player at Maghreb Association Sportve de Fes (MAS Fes) before moving to Mohammed VI Football Academy in Rabat.
More significant is perhaps the life-sized photograph that King Mohammed VI took with the Atlas Lions upon return from Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The use of photographs that capture Morocco’s passion for football may not be a surprise. Erghnouni, the director of the stadium and top official at Morocco’s stadium management company, SONARGES explained that Fez is one of the biggest cultural centres of Morocco and habouring over 12 centuries of history.
The simplicity of the stadium’s design is to showcase the city’s old century of culture, explained Erghnouni. The pitch of the stadium has lush green natural grass.
The resident clubs at the 45,000 capacity stadium are Maghreb Association Sportive de Fès (MAS Fes) and Wydad Athletic de Fès.
Though in existence since1997, it was officially commissioned 10 years later.
It habours four locker rooms for football teams, making it very good for double-header matches for which Africa Cup of Nations’ group games adopted.
It means that while a game is on, the two other teams who are to take on the pitch later have their own locker rooms.
Four huge slanting flood light pillars each carry 50 halogen lamps to ensure brilliant spectacle both for spectators and television viewers.
Agadir is another World Cup designated city. It was at this city that Nigeria’s Super Eagles had their biggest win when they beat Sao Tome & Principe 10-0 last year in one of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
The Grand Stade d’Agadir has a uniqueness as a place where the Atlas Mountains blend with sports facilities.
Occasionally, structural designers attempt a blend of nature with constructions. This is very apparent in the design of Grand Stade d’Agadir.
The stadium is lying at the foot of the Atlas Mountain from where the Morocco national team derived their nickname, Atlas Lions.
Hitcham Allouli, the stadium’s director told Sports Village Square that the 45,480 capacity Grand Stade Adrar Agadir was designed to form part of Morocco’s bid for the 2010 World Cup.
Early construction works kicked off in 2003, but works progressed slowly and stalled when South Africa got awarded the World Cup instead of Morocco.
Construction works resumed in 2007 and was completed in October 2013 and hosted some matches of that year’s edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Located on the eastern edge of the Agadir at the foot of the Atlas mountain range, the stadium is about five kilometres from Agadir’s centre and beachfront.
The arena’s director said that the stadium is estimated to have been constructed at cost of one million euro.
The design was by a Moroccan architect, Sad Benkirane in conjunction with a foreign firm, Gregotti Associati International.
Outwardly, the stadium in colour and in shape, is designed to have a perfect harmony with the surrounding hills as outside walls have sloped elevations.
Hitcham Allouli informed that the arena, with natural grass, has a media tribune that can hold 288 journalists as well as 12 commentary boxes.
The three-tiered grand stand has three VVIP zones and each had capacity for 250 guests. This is in addition to 12 lounges that can host 300 guests.
Rabat, the green city and seat of government has the popular Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
Russia-based forward Olakunle Olusegun is still awaiting an entry visa to South Africa, creating the possibility that Nigeria may prosecute the encounter with only 21 available players.
Friday’s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying encounter at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.
Head Coach Eric Sekou Chelle will have a total of 20 players available for Wednesday’s second training session, as the Super Eagles intensify preparations for the tie against the Crocodiles.
By Tuesday night, 18 players had checked into the team’s camp at The Ranch Hotel in Polokwane, with Portugal-based defender Zaidu Sanusi and Spain-based forward Jerome Akor Adams expected to join on Wednesday. United States-based midfielder Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi is due to arrive on Thursday.
Chelle has had to adjust his squad following injuries to Bright Osayi-Samuel and Cyriel Dessers, prompting the late inclusion of Zaidu Sanusi and Christantus Uche of Crystal Palace. Earlier, a knock to wing-back Felix Agu had reduced the initial 23-man roster to 22.
Team captain William Ekong lacing his boots for training in Polokwane on Tuesday
Friday’s Matchday 9 fixture will kick off at 6pm South Africa time (5pm Nigeria time) at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium, as the Super Eagles aim to strengthen their position in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race.
21 SUPER EAGLES TO BATTLE LESOTHO IN POLOKWANE
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Adeleye Adebayo (Volos FC, Greece)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, England)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Jerome Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain)
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The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago.
The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week.
They are away to Libya on Wednesday before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America.
Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals.
In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties.
Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ranked 182nd in the world.
The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION PAYING OFF
“The football association devised new strategies around identifying and recruiting talent throughout the large Cape Verdean communities,” said U.S.-based agent Tony Araujo, who was born on the islands and worked closely with the team over decades.
“The talent identification and global recruitment process started to pay off huge dividends around 2013, when they qualified for their first Cup of Nations final.”
Scarce natural resources and an arid landscape have long caused migration from the islands, stretching back to the Portuguese colonial period.
Migrants left in droves for Portugal as well as other destinations, like the U.S. eastern seaboard and Dutch port of Rotterdam.
The squad for this week’s fixtures has six Dutch-born players plus others born in Portugal, France, and Ireland. Shamrock Rovers’ Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who will play in central defence, was among many scouted and approached, some more creatively than others.
“I set up a LinkedIn profile when I was in college but never really looked at it,” Lopes told Reuters.
“I got a message from the then coach Rui Aguas, but he wrote to me in Portuguese. I thought it was spam and took no notice.
“Then about nine months later, he messaged me back, saying, ‘Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?’ I copied the message into Google Translate. And it basically said that, ‘we’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde? I was absolutely buzzing with that! I was like, ‘yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he recalled.
In the past, it was hard for the team to attract top European-based Cape Verdean talent, Araujo said.
SUCCESS HAS ATTRACTED NEW PLAYERS
“But with new waves of recent success, a lot more European-based talents are inclined to choose Cape Verde to showcase their talents at the international level.”
Victory in Tripoli on Wednesday will be tough, but if unsuccessful they will be heavily fancied to secure qualification on Monday with home success against the Swazis.
Beating Cameroon last month set off celebrations across the islands, and those will surely be repeated with vigour should they secure a World Cup spot.
-Reuters
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Egypt will look to confirm their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they face Djibouti in a Group A clash of the African qualifiers this Wednesday in Morocco.
The Pharaohs, who have appeared at the global finals three times — in 1934, 1990 and 2018 — need only two points from their remaining two matches to seal qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Currently top of Group A with 20 points, Egypt hold a five-point lead over second-placed Burkina Faso, who will also be in action away to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
A victory on Wednesday would all but guarantee Egypt’s qualification and pave the way for celebrations in Cairo when they host Guinea-Bissau in their final qualifier on Sunday.
On paper, Hossam Hassan’s men are overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Djibouti, who have collected just one point from eight matches and have been forced to host home fixtures outside their country due to stadium accreditation issues with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Head coach Hossam Hassan has kept faith with most of the players who featured in September’s matches against Ethiopia (2–0) and Burkina Faso (0–0). Star forward Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan, and veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy headline the squad.
The only notable absentee is Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, who is sidelined with a knee injury picked up early in the draw against Burkina Faso.
Hassan — the man whose goal sent Egypt to the 1990 World Cup as a player — is now seeking to etch his name in history as one of the few to qualify for the tournament both as a player and coach.
Liverpool talisman Salah, who has gone three Premier League games without a goal, will be eager to rediscover his scoring touch, while Trezeguet is expected to share more attacking responsibility following his impressive run with Al Ahly.
Both Salah and Trezeguet, alongside El-Shennawy, will be aiming for a second World Cup appearance, having featured at Russia 2018.
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