A terracotta fortress on Marrakech's northern edge, closed since spring 2026 for a transformation that removes its athletics track, reshapes the bowl from rectangular to octagonal, and expands capacity ahead of the 2030 World Cup.
Architecture & Design
Grand Stade de Marrakech was designed by the Italian firm Gregotti Associati International working alongside Moroccan architect Saad Benkirane, with construction running from 2003 to its January 2011 opening. The design leans hard into Marrakech's identity as the Red City: sand-and-terracotta walls and four illuminated corner towers echo the historic ramparts and kasbahs of the medina rather than a generic modern bowl.
At its 2011 opening, the stadium combined a rectangular football pitch with a full surrounding athletics track, a layout that pushed fans unusually far from the pitch and became a recurring point of criticism, one that now directly shapes the World Cup renovation under way.
That renovation, part of the same national stadium upgrade programme reshaping Tangier, Rabat, Agadir and Fez, unfolds in two phases. Phase 1, completed in June 2025 ahead of AFCON 2025, focused on CAF-standard compliance: rebuilt locker rooms, a new mixed zone and media centre, a fully resurfaced pitch, a 180-seat panoramic restaurant, and turnstiles expanded from 36 to 77, cutting matchday entry queues to roughly a minute.
"The Grand Stade de Marrakech is set to be transformed during the second phase of upgrades ahead of the 2030 World Cup, with its current rectangular format becoming octagonal."
Abdelkerim Bouilli, development director, Grand Stade de Marrakech (ANEP), September 2025Phase 2 is the more radical step. Benkirane is again leading the design, with Egis Group and Luseo France handling engineering and the Socotec bureau overseeing quality control. The work removes the athletics track entirely, lowers the pitch by roughly six metres, and reshapes the stadium's footprint from rectangular to octagonal, a genuinely unusual move among Morocco's six World Cup venues, bringing new lower-tier seating and stands significantly closer to the pitch.
Grand Stade de Marrakech joins Hassan II Stadium, Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium and Ibn Batouta Stadium as one of four Moroccan venues still mid-transformation for 2030, though the terracotta silhouette and corner towers Gregotti and Benkirane designed in 2011 are staying exactly as they are.
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Renovation & Fan Experience
The stadium closed to the public in spring 2026 to begin its second and more dramatic renovation phase, tendered out to contractors through June 2026, following a first phase that already delivered CAF-standard facilities in time for AFCON 2025.
Get Renovation UpdatesUnlike Hassan II Stadium's new-build project, this is a renovation of an existing, well-loved venue, home to Kawkab Athletic Club Marrakech (KACM) since 2011, so the work is as much about preserving the ground's identity as changing its bowl. Phase 1 alone touched almost everything fans see on matchday: rebuilt dressing rooms, a new mixed zone and media centre, a resurfaced pitch, a 180-seat panoramic restaurant, and turnstiles nearly doubled from 36 to 77.
While the stadium is closed, KAC Marrakech, freshly promoted back to Morocco's top flight, the Botola Pro, for the 2025-26 season, is playing home matches at Stade El Harti, the club's former ground before the current stadium opened in 2011.
What We Don't Know Yet
Reported final capacity figures vary widely, from roughly 46,000 in earlier renovation plans to a 60,071-seat figure cited elsewhere as a requirement for potential semi-final hosting, and a confirmed number hasn't been published. The exact completion date within the 2026-2028 window also hasn't been finalised. We'll update this page once SONARGES, ANEP or FIFA confirm further details.
Matchday Atmosphere
Kawkab Athletic Club Marrakech plays in red and white, and its Curva Sud comes alive courtesy of Ultras Crazy Boys (UCB), founded 25 December 2006 as the club's first organised supporters' group.
Get Renovation UpdatesUltras Crazy Boys stage regular tifos, banners and flares at the club's temporary home, Stade El Harti's south curve, ahead of the eventual move back to a renovated Grand Stade de Marrakech. Moroccan football's ultras culture as a whole has faced periodic stadium restrictions and match boycotts in recent years over crowd safety, and UCB, like most of the country's supporters' groups, has publicly distanced itself from any violence associated with the wider movement.
Arrive early on matchday and the streets around whichever ground KACM is using fill with scarf and jersey vendors, tea stalls, and fans making their way in from across the city, a rhythm that will simply relocate back to Route de Casablanca once the renovated stadium reopens. Since the club's promotion back to the Botola Pro for 2025-26, home games have carried extra weight, with fans keen to see the team re-establish itself in Morocco's top flight.
Street food follows the pattern seen across Morocco's stadiums: grilled sandwiches, msemen flatbread folded hot off portable griddles, and sweet mint tea poured from height. Once the renovated stadium reopens, the same fare will be available at fixed prices from concourse kiosks, alongside the 180-seat panoramic restaurant added during Phase 1.
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History & Significance
Grand Stade de Marrakech opened on 5 January 2011 after seven years and three months of construction, and within three years was hosting back-to-back FIFA Club World Cup finals, a track record few Morocco venues can match.
All Morocco StadiumsThe inaugural friendlies paired Kawkab Marrakech and Wydad Casablanca against Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain, an early signal of the international profile the ground would go on to build. Grand Stade de Marrakech is one of six Moroccan venues being built or renovated for 2030, alongside Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca, Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, and Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier.
The stadium remains the home of Marrakech's leading club, Kawkab Athletic Club (KAC Marrakech), founded in 1947, which won the Botola Pro title in 1957-58 and 1991-92 and the CAF Cup in 1996. More recently the club fell as far as the third-tier Amateur National Championship in 2022 amid financial constraints, before climbing back with a 2022-23 Amateur title and a 2024-25 Botola 2 title, returning to the Botola Pro for the 2025-26 season, just as its home stadium closed for its own transformation.
World Cup 2030 Role
Unlike some of Morocco's newer or still-under-construction venues, Grand Stade de Marrakech arrives at 2030 with a genuine international track record: two FIFA Club World Cup finals, continental athletics championships, and a full slate of AFCON 2025 fixtures including a quarter-final.
That history, combined with Marrakech's status as Morocco's most visited city, makes the venue a near-certain host for meaningful group-stage and knockout matches, though FIFA has not yet published a confirmed match schedule for individual venues. At 41,245 seats currently, rising once the octagonal Phase 2 bowl is complete, the stadium sits in the middle tier of Morocco's six World Cup venues, smaller than Hassan II Stadium and Ibn Batouta Stadium but comparable to Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Its capacity is modest next to the tournament's largest venues, Spain's Santiago Bernabéu and Camp Nou, both leading candidates to host the final, but that's typical for a venue expected to handle earlier-round matches rather than marquee occasions. It sits closer in scale to Portugal's Estádio da Luz and Estádio do Dragão, a useful benchmark for fans planning a trip that spans all three host nations, and the unique octagonal reshaping should give Grand Stade de Marrakech one of the more distinctive atmospheres of the entire tournament.
Getting There
Grand Stade de Marrakech sits about 11km north of Marrakech's historic centre, along the RN9 road toward Casablanca. Marrakech Menara International Airport is roughly 14km from the stadium, and the city's main railway station, Gare de Marrakech, connects to Casablanca, Rabat and Fez, with a new station planned directly next to the stadium by 2028.
Compare Flights to MarrakechFrom Marrakech City Centre
Exact matchday shuttle and transport plans will be confirmed by FIFA and Moroccan authorities closer to 2030. Check back here for updates.
Where to Stay
Since the stadium sits well outside the Medina and Gueliz, we recommend basing yourself centrally in Marrakech rather than near the ground itself. The Medina puts you inside Marrakech's historic walls near Jemaa el-Fna, while Gueliz offers a more modern base with easy taxi access to the stadium. Our full Marrakech guide covers neighbourhoods and matchday logistics in detail.
World Cup 2030
Grand Stade de Marrakech is one of 21 confirmed venues across Morocco, Portugal, Spain and the three centenary host nations. Explore the others below.
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🇵🇹 Portugal
🇪🇸 Spain
🏆 Centenary Matches
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