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World Cup 2030 galvanises Morocco construction

8 July 2025

 

Morocco’s construction sector is gearing up for billions of dollars in projects as the North African nation continues to award contracts for building infrastructure for the 2030 Fifa World Cup, which it is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal.

Experience from past tournaments suggests that governments often leverage such events to advance broader economic goals. The World Cup brings fans from around the globe to enjoy a month-long festival of football.

After the 2022 tournament, Qatar reported that more than 1.4 million fans had visited the country during the event.

Morocco has made a strong head start in ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is ready for the tournament. According to data from regional project tracker MEED Projects, 2024 was the best year in the past decade for construction and transport contract awards in Morocco, with contracts worth over $3.6bn signed with local construction firms and international companies from South Korea, China, France and Spain.

So far this year, Morocco has already awarded $1.6bn-worth of contracts and appears to be on track to surpass last year’s figures. Projects worth over $3.5bn are currently in the bidding stage and are expected to be awarded by the end of the year.

Infrastructure development

Morocco was effectively confirmed as a host nation for the 2030 Fifa World Cup – alongside Spain and Portugal – in October 2023, after the trio emerged as the sole bidders for the event. The official selection was announced in December of the same year.

To prepare for the tournament, the Moroccan government quickly drafted plans to upgrade nationwide infrastructure, including airports, roads and the railway network.

Following the award of multimillion-dollar civil works contracts for the Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed railway network last year, Morocco’s minister of transport and logistics unveiled a MD96bn ($9.5bn) investment plan earlier this year to transform the country’s rail infrastructure by 2030.

In another major development, the ministry announced in January that Morocco will invest approximately MD42bn ($4.1bn) in airport expansion projects by 2030. The most immediate of these is the construction of a new terminal at the country’s largest airport – Mohammed V International airport in Casablanca – at an estimated cost of MD15bn ($1.6bn).

In June, 28 local and international firms expressed interest in the contract to build the new terminal.

The planned expansion will increase the airport’s capacity to 30 million passengers a year.

Additional investments are planned to modernise other airports – including those in Rabat, Tangier, Marrakesh, Fez, Tetouan and Agadir – in anticipation of increased passenger traffic during the 2030 World Cup.

Significant funding is also being directed towards improving the country’s road network. In March, Morocco announced plans to invest MD12.5bn ($1.2bn) in highway development projects across the country.

This announcement followed the award of approximately MD5bn ($540m) in contracts for nine construction packages related to the Rabat-Casablanca continental expressway.

This project is part of Morocco’s broader plan to upgrade public infrastructure in preparation for co-hosting the World Cup. The programme includes the expansion of over 1,000 kilometres of highways.

Stadium upgrades

Morocco began construction on its Grand Stade Hassan II stadium last year, awarding a $35m early works contract to local firm Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc (SGTM). The stadium, with an estimated capacity of 115,000 seats, will be one of the venues for the 2030 Fifa World Cup.

In June, the client awarded a further $320m contract for the next phase of construction. The contract went to a joint venture of Travaux Generaux de Construction de Casablanca and SGTM.

The stadium is being built on a 100-hectare site in the El-Mansouria area of Benslimane Province, 38 kilometres north of Casablanca.

Several other stadium projects are also in the pipeline for upgrades ahead of the tournament. These include the renovation of six existing stadiums in Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier.

Additionally, Morocco’s construction sector has a pipeline of over $2bn-worth of projects, with major developments in the hospitality sector. Notable schemes include the St Regis Marrakech Resort, Citadines Bab Hotel in Tangier, Hampton by Hilton Fes Golf and the Mogador Resort.

With construction and transport projects worth over $17bn currently in the pipeline, Morocco is expected to invest tens of billions of dollars in the near term to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place for the 2030 Fifa World Cup.

The scale of the construction programme is set to provide substantial opportunities for contractors in the coming years. The initiative will also require close collaboration between local firms and experienced international contractors willing to participate in the effort.

MEED’s August 2025 report on the Maghreb also includes:

> ECONOMY: Maghreb economies battle trading headwinds
> INDUSTRY: Algeria’s industrial strategy builds momentum
> POWER & WATER: Slow year for Maghreb power and water awards

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Yasir Iqbal

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