Meed | Top 15 Saudi stadium projects

Top 15 Saudi stadium projects

30 August 2024

Saudi Arabia formally kicked off its World Cup participation process in October last year after announcing that it planned to bid to host the event. The announcement was a culmination of Riyadh’s football-focused strategy launched two years before when a consortium led by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), completed the full acquisition of UK football club Newcastle United from St James Holdings in 2021.

The move was further solidified when Saudi Arabia was effectively confirmed as the host after Australia, the only other bidder for the tournament, withdrew from the race in October last year.

This was followed by Saudi Arabia’s official bid campaign reveal and the submission of its bid to Fifa to host the World Cup 2034 event in July. The official selection of Saudi Arabia as the 2034 host is expected to be confirmed on 11 December.

Saudi Arabia will likely invest hundreds of billions of dollars in developing the required infrastructure to host the event. Experience from previous World Cups, including the most recent one in Qatar, has shown that hosting the tournament can transform a country’s economy.

The tournament brings in fans from around the world to enjoy a month-long festival of football. After the 2022 tournament, Qatar issued a statement saying that more than 1.4 million fans had visited the country during the event.

The decision to host the Fifa World Cup 2034 is a pivotal moment for Saudi Arabia as it validates much of the social and economic change that the kingdom has embarked upon since Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched Vision 2030 back in 2016.

Building stadiums is the most prominent part of the bid to host the coveted Fifa World Cup.

According to the official bid book document submitted by Saudi Arabia in July, it will construct 11 new stadiums as part of its bid to host the Fifa World Cup 2034.

Eight out of the 15 stadiums are located in the capital, Riyadh, four in Jeddah and one each in Al-Khobar, Abha and Neom.

The event requires a minimum of 14 all-seater stadiums, of which at least four should be existing structures. The capacity must be at least 80,000 seats for the opening and final matches, and for the semi-finals, there must be at least 60,000 seats. For all other matches, at least 40,000 seats are needed.

The kingdom has recently ramped up its announcements regarding building new stadiums across the country in preparation to host the event.

1. King Salman Stadium

The King Salman Stadium will be the showpiece venue for the tournament. The US-based architectural firm Populous-designed stadium will cover an area of about 660,000 square metres (sq m) and have a seating capacity of over 92,000 spectators.

The stadium will host the opening and final games of the Fifa World Cup 2034 tournament. The construction of the stadium is expected to be completed by 2029.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Opening and final games

2. King Fahad Sports City Stadium

The King Fahad Sports City Stadium is expected to be the venue for the semi-final. The stadium will be refurbished to increase its seating capacity from its current 58,000 seats to 70,200 seats.

The main contract bid submission process is ongoing and the project’s expansion works are expected to begin early next year. The stadium will also be a venue for the AFC Asian Cup 2027.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Semi-final

3. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium, Qiddiya City

The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium will be built on top of a 200-metre-high Tuwaiq cliff located in the new sports and entertainment district of Qiddiya City.

The stadium will have a capacity to accommodate 46,979 spectators and will feature a fully combined retractable pitch, roof and LED wall. The construction works are expected to begin later this year.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Qiddiya Investment Company, Populous
Match category: Third-place playoff

4. New Murabba Stadium

The New Murabba Stadium will have the capacity to accommodate 46,010 spectators and will be built as part of the New Murabba downtown project in Riyadh.

The construction of the stadium is expected to be completed by 2032.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: New Murabba Development Company
Match category: Round of 32

5. Roshn Stadium

The Roshn stadium will be built in the southwest of Riyadh. The planned facility will have the capacity to accommodate 46,000 spectators and will span an area of over 450,000 sq m.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Roshn
Match category: Round of 32

6. Prince Faisal Bin Fahad Sports City Stadium

The Prince Faisal Bin Fahad Stadium is earmarked for an expansion that aims to increase its seating capacity from its current 22,188 seats to 46,865 seats.

The facility will also host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.

The refurbishment works will change the geometry of the seating bowl from an athletics stadium to a football stadium.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 32

Saudi World Cup bid bucks global trend for sporting events

7. South Riyadh Stadium

The Populous-designed stadium will be located in southwest Riyadh close to the Wadi Namar. The stadium will have the capacity to host 47,060 spectators. It is expected to be ready by 2032.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 32

8. King Saud University Stadium

The King Saud University Stadium, located on the university’s campus in the west of Riyadh, is one of the venues that will undergo expansion and refurbishment to host the event.

The expansion will increase the stadium’s capacity to 46,319 spectators and the construction works are expected to be completed by 2032.

Location: Riyadh
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 32

9. King Abdullah Sports City Stadium

The King Abdullah Sports City Stadium is the home ground for the Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli football clubs. The venue will undergo expansion works that will increase its seating capacity to 58,432 people. The stadium will host the quarter-final games.

Location: Jeddah
Companies involved: Arup
Match category: Quarter-final

10. Qiddiya Coast Stadium, Jeddah

The Populous-designed stadium will be situated at the heart of the Qiddiya Coast development in Jeddah. The multi-purpose stadium will have a 46,096 seating capacity and will be one of the venues for the round of 16 matches.

Location: Jeddah
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 16

11. Jeddah Central Stadium, Jeddah

The already under-construction football stadium is part of the Jeddah Central Project in Jeddah and has a seating capacity of 45,794 spectators. The stadium is expected to be completed by 2027.

Location: Jeddah
Companies involved: Jeddah Central Development Company, Khatib & Alami, Gerkan Marg & Partner, China Railway Construction Corporation, Sama Construction for Trading & Contracting, Geoharbour
Match category: Round of 32

12. King Abdullah Economic City Stadium, Jeddah

The planned stadium will have a seating capacity of 45,700 and will be built in the King Abdullah Economic City on the Red Sea Coast, north of Jeddah.

Location: Jeddah
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 32

13. Aramco Stadium

The Aramco Stadium in Al-Khobar is under construction and is expected to be completed by 2026. The stadium will have a capacity of 46,096 seats.

Location: Al-Khobar
Companies involved: Saudi Aramco, Roshn, Foster + Partners, Populous, Besix, Albawani, Al-Osais International Holding
Match category: Round of 16

14. King Khalid University Stadium

The stadium will undergo expansion works that will see its capacity raised to 45,428 seats. The facility is expected to be ready by 2032.

Location: Abha
Companies involved: Populous
Match category: Round of 16

15. Neom Stadium

The 46,010-seat stadium in Neom is “designed to stand out among the world’s most iconic landmarks”, according to the bid book. It is planned to be built 350 metres above ground level within The Line project at Neom.

The stadium is expected to be ready by 2032.

Location: Neom
Companies involved: Neom
Match category: Quarter-final

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12432451/main.gif

Yasir Iqbal

Exclusive from Meed

Kuwait tenders two Al-Mutlaa City construction packages
2 September 2026
Preferred bidders emerge for Zatca residential PPP
2 September 2026
NWC confirms $347m Saudi sewage treatment plant deal
2 September 2026
Egypt signs PPA for 1GW Ras Shokeir wind farm
2 September 2026
Iraq looks to accelerate oil pipeline projects
2 September 2026

Kuwait tenders two Al-Mutlaa City construction packages
2 September 2026

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has tendered two contracts covering the construction of public buildings across five districts at its Al-Mutlaa City residential project.

The first tender covers construction in the N5 and N6 districts, while the second covers N1, N3 and N4.

The tenders were issued on 30 August, with a bid submission deadline of 30 September.

The project is a housing scheme located 38.3 kilometres northwest of the Kuwait metropolitan area.

It covers approximately 104 square kilometres and is expected to house up to 400,000 people.

The mixed-use development will include residential, social, commercial and light industrial areas.

In March 2023, MEED reported that PAHW had appointed France-based Egis as a project management consultant for the Al-Mutlaa City development.

Under the agreement, Egis is providing programme-level service management, construction logistics and interface management services.

The scope of work also includes cost management, a digital programme management system and a project management information system for the scheme.

Al-Mutlaa City is one of the largest housing infrastructure projects being developed by the government as part of Kuwait’s Vision 2035.

UK analytics firm GlobalData expects Kuwait’s construction industry to grow at an average annual rate of 7.1% in 2025-28, supported by investment in renewable energy, transport and oil and gas projects, as well as spending under the New Kuwait 2035 National Development Plan.

Under this strategy, the government plans to invest KD350m ($1.1bn) to develop several sports projects in the country.

The residential construction sector is expected to register average annual growth of 3.8% in 2025-28, supported by the government’s plan to build 65,500 housing units by 2029 through five projects.

MEED’s September 2026 report on Kuwait includes:

> COMMENT: Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive under fire
> GOVERNMENT: Kuwait shows tentative signs of economic development
> BANKING: Necessity is the mother of invention for Kuwaiti lenders
> OIL & GAS: Regional war to have lasting impact on Kuwaiti oil sector
> POWER & WATER: Kuwait utilities investment shifts towards water
> CONSTRUCTION: Kuwait construction holds up despite regional strife
> MARKET TALK: Kuwait stands resilient amid regional tensions

To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19245517/main.png

Yasir Iqbal
Preferred bidders emerge for Zatca residential PPP
2 September 2026

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access

Saudi Arabia’s Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca), through the National Centre for Privatisation and PPP (NCP), has selected preferred bidders to develop residential buildings at various land ports across the kingdom.

The project covers developments across nine land ports, separated into two packages.

Local firm Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Company has been selected as the preferred bidder for the first package, which includes the Al-Batha, Salwa, Al-Raqi, Jadidat Arar, Al-Wadiah and Empty Quarter sites.

Bahrain-headquartered Lamar Holding is the preferred bidder for the second package, which includes land ports at Al-Hadithah, Halat Ammar and Al-Durrah.

The project will be implemented as a public-private partnership (PPP) on a design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer basis, with a contract duration of 23 years, including the construction period.

The contract covers the construction and management of new residential buildings and associated facilities at the land ports, as well as the rehabilitation of existing facilities.

The project is the latest scheme in the kingdom’s PPP pipeline. In January, Saudi Arabia launched a national privatisation strategy aimed at mobilising $64bn in private sector capital by 2030.

Building on the privatisation programme first introduced in 2018, the strategy focuses on unlocking state-owned assets for private investment and privatising selected government services.

In a statement, NCP said the strategy comprises 147 opportunities drawn from a broader pipeline of more than 500 projects across 18 sectors.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19244076/main.jpg

Yasir Iqbal
Egypt signs PPA for 1GW Ras Shokeir wind farm
2 September 2026

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access

A joint venture of the local Hassan Allam Utilities Energy and Infinity Power has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) for the development of the 1GW Ras Shokeir wind project in Egypt.

The project is located in Egypt’s Red Sea Governorate, within the Gulf of Suez wind corridor. It will cover approximately 143 square kilometres.

The PPA has a 25-year term. The project will supply electricity to Egypt’s national grid.

Ras Shokeir is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 1.2 million Egyptian homes. It is also expected to avoid more than 1.36 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

The PPA was signed by EETC chairperson Mona Rizk and Infinity Power co-founder and CEO Nayer Fouad, representing the Infinity Power-Hassan Allam consortium.

The signing brings the project closer to development as Egypt seeks to expand its renewable energy capacity. Egypt has set a target for renewable energy to make up 42% of the electricity mix by 2030 and 65% by 2040.

This includes the 500MW Amunet 2 wind project, which is being developed by UAE-headquartered Amea Power following the commissioning of the first Amunet wind project in June 2025.

Hassan Allam Utilities Energy and Infinity Power are also developing Egypt’s $560m West Minya solar plant, which will combine 1,000MWac of solar photovoltaic capacity with a 600MWh battery energy storage system.

In June, MEED reported that a joint venture of Hassan Allam Construction and India’s Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy had won the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19242701/main1603.jpg

Mark Dowdall
NWC confirms $347m Saudi sewage treatment plant deal
2 September 2026

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access

Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company (NWC) has signed a contract worth more than SR1.3bn ($347m) with a Saudi-Chinese consortium to rehabilitate, operate and maintain nine sewage treatment plants (STPs).

The 15-year contract covers plants located across the Hail, Qassim, Al-Jouf and Northern Borders provinces. The plants have a combined treatment design capacity of more than 337,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

MEED exclusively reported in January that the consortium comprising China’s Jiangsu United Water Technology and Saudi-based Armada Holding had won the contract for the project.

The contract is for the Northern Cluster Sewage Treatment Plants Package 10 (LTOM10) and includes an initial three-year period for rehabilitation and upgrade works, followed by long-term operation and maintenance.

NWC said the contract was signed with a tariff of SR0.69 ($0.18) a cubic meter.

As MEED understands, United Water will be responsible for design, financing, operation and part of the construction works. Saudi Arabia’s Armada Holding will handle construction, equipment import customs clearance and local business communications. UAE-registered Prosus Holding will act as the financial investor.

LTOM packages

The same consortium is also expected to sign a contract for Package 11 of the LTOM programme in the coming months.

In April, MEED exclusively reported that the consortium won the contract for this project, which will have a combined capacity of about 440,000 cm/d.

Bids for North Western B Cluster (LTOM12) remain under evaluation. The contract covers the construction and upgrade of seven STPs with a combined capacity of about 162,000 cm/d.

NWC also tendered the Eastern A Cluster (LTOM14) package in April, covering the upgrade of six existing STPs with a capacity expansion of 30,000 cm/d at the Al-Jarodia STP.

This will increase total treatment capacity from about 263,000 cm/d to approximately 293,000 cm/d, with an estimated cost of $180m.

The bid submission deadline is 30 September.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19242964/main.jpg

Mark Dowdall
Iraq looks to accelerate oil pipeline projects
2 September 2026

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has held talks with a delegation from Qatari company UCC on accelerating the progress of two major pipeline projects, according to a statement from Iraq’s Office of Media and Government Communication.

The first proposed pipeline route extends from Basra, in southern Iraq, to Haditha, located about 200 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, then on to Faysh Khabur, which lies on the border with Syria and near the border with Turkiye.

The second pipeline extends from Haditha to Syria’s coastal city of Baniyas.

Discussions covered the contract type, implementation timeline and “other technical matters”, according to the statement released by the Iraqi government.

During the meeting, Iraq’s Minister of Oil, Basem Mohammed Khudair Al-Abadi, emphasised the need to expedite the tendering process for the project contracts.

He said all obstacles to progress on the projects needed to be eliminated.

He also said weekly meetings will be held between relevant parties to reach agreements on the economic models for the pipelines and their routes.

The Ministry of Oil said UCC is leading a consortium of companies developing the projects.

It added that the consortium includes US-based Chevron, the investment company TI Capital and France’s TotalEnergies.

In July, Iraq’s cabinet approved Basra Oil Company signing a heads of agreement and a non-disclosure agreement with the consortium to explore possible future oil pipeline projects.

Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium will prepare technical and financial feasibility studies for strategic export pipeline projects.

Also in July, US-based KBR was awarded a consultancy contract for the section of pipeline due to extend from Basra to Haditha.

In April, Iraq announced the allocation of $1.5bn for the Basra-Haditha route, while the larger scheme is estimated at around $5bn.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19241649/main.jpg

Wil Crisp