Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium (, , ) is a football stadium under construction, it is part of a larger sports complex with an athletics track and field stadium, an indoor arena named the

Salle Moulay Abdellah Salle Moulay Abdellah is an indoor sporting arena located in Rabat, Morocco. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 people. The arena is used to host indoor sporting events, such as basketball and volleyball. The arena was inaugurated in 2000 and ...

and an Olympic swimming pool in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It was named after

Prince Moulay Abdellah of Morocco Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco (31 May 1935 – 20 December 1983) was the brother of Hassan II of Morocco, Moulay Hassan, later King Hassan II of Morocco and the son of King Mohammed V of Morocco (1909–1961), and his second wife Princess Lal ...

and was planned to be completed in 2025. The stadium is located 7km from the center of Rabat, the country's capital. The venue was primarily constructed for the use of football (soccer), and it has VIP and hospitality areas with the most recent technological advancements. Completed for late 2025, the stadium is hosting the

2025 Africa Cup of Nations The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as AFCON 2025 or CAN 2025, is scheduled to be the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It will be hosted by Morocco fo ...

and the

2030 FIFA World Cup The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. Three countries will host the competition, representing, for the ...

, as well as the Olympic Annex stadium hosting the yearly Rabat International Mohammed VI Athletics Meeting.

History

The Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex is a reconstruction of the previous Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on the same site in

, the capital city of Morocco. It has kept the name of the previous stadium, which was done in honur of

. The plan was for the previous stadium to be demolished in time for the

, and to be a venue for the

, the stadium will be able to seat 68,700 people. The new design facade was built with the imagination for the stadium to look like

palm leaves The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

, whilst the site will also accommodate an indoor multisport arena, an

Olympic swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championsh ...

, football training pitches and a car park. The project was planned to be built in merely eight months, making it the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for the fastest stadium construction ever in the world. Alongside the stadium in Rabat, Morocco is undergoing a nationwide sports infrastructure upgrade to its existing stadia as part of a project with a budget of MAD 9.5bn (1 billion USD). The stadiums upgraded or completely rebuilt are also located in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

(

Ibn Batouta Stadium The Ibn Batouta Stadium or Grand stade of Tangier (; Berber languages: ⴰⵏⵏⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⴱⵏ ⴱⴰⵜⵓⵜⴰ) is a multi-use stadium in Tangier, Morocco. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and big events such as c ...

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

(

Hassan II Stadium Hassan II Stadium () is a planned Association football, football stadium to be built in Benslimane, just east of Casablanca. Once completed in 2028, it will be used mostly for football matches and will serve as the home of the Morocco national fo ...

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

( Adrar Stadium),

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

(

Marrakesh Stadium Marrakesh Stadium (, Berber language, Berber: Annar n Mrraksh), is a multi-use stadium in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was designed by Gregotti Associati International. Completed in January 2012, it is used mostly for Association football, football m ...

), and Fez (

Fez Stadium The Fez Stadium (Arabic: ملعب فاس) is a multi-purpose stadium whitin the Fez Sports complex in Fez, Morocco, Fez, Morocco. It is used mostly for Association football, football matches and it also has athletics facilities, the stadium hol ...

Al Hoceima Al Hoceima () is a city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It is the capital city of the Al Hoceima Province. The city is a known tourist destination despite its small size. It has ...

( Mimoun Al Arsi Stadium) and are being constructed in two phases between 20232025 and 20252028. The project is approved by the Moroccan Government and managed by the Deposit and Management Fund (CDG).

Ownership

The new owners of the stadium are the Department of Sports, the Province of Rabat, and the

Royal Moroccan Football Federation The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (; Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⵖⵔⴰⴱⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵜⵡⵊⴰ ⵏ ⵓⴹⴰⵔ) is the governing body of football in Morocco. It was established in 1956. It beca ...

. The project was founded as the National Company for the Construction and Management of Sports Facilities by King

Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced severa ...

in 2008, with the plan of enhancing sports facilities in Morocco through the company Sonarges.

Architect and construction

Various architects combined to work on building the multi-purpose venue, including Orange Atelier, a Moroccan firm which complied with the necessity for a FIFA-standard stadium to host matches during the World Cup, and Populous who has ensured the stadium is a state-of-the-art venue. The architects worked together to infuse a traditional Moroccan architectural approach and modern innovation by using sustainable resources for the build, making the venue eco-conscious and modern. Temsan are the

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

contractors, whilst Imyas between 2024/25 were responsible for building the weather-resistant cladding covering the seated venue, it has been done to be architecturally pleasing and durable. The Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium rebuild began with demolishing the previous stadium in 2023. The construction for the new stadium is for a state-of-the-art

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium with a roof covering the seating arrangement over three stands to accommodate a seating capacity of 68,700, over 40,000 sq feet. Technological features include the windbreak roof, solar energy sources, an advanced lighting system including high definition LED screens, advanced acoustic systems and a sound system to accommodate large-scale cultural events, football, and smart crowd management technologies. Also the football pitch is to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

specifications to host games in the World Cup. It is set to host a semi-final of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, to FIFA requirements, two giant screens are installed at the north and south stands of the stadium.

Football stadium specifications

The football stadium within the sports complex has allocated seating for VVIP and VIP boxes, VIP lounges, a VVIP lounge, four hospitality lounges, and a press box alongside the overall seating area. Then, on the field, the stadium has a hybrid natural turf combining natural grass and synthetic fibers. Then there are four changing rooms within the stadium with ergonomic equipment for the players. Also at the sports complex venue, there's a car park for 5,200 cars.

Prince Moulay Abdellah Olympic Annex Stadium

Alongside the new football stadium is an athletics stadium with a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

named Olympic Annex Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium () which was built with a capacity of 21,000 within the sports complex. The stadium is used for the yearly Rabat International Mohammed VI Athletics Meeting for the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

Transportation connections

The stadium's existing transportation infrastructure has received an upgrade to its connections in the local area and the country. Additionally, including expanding the existing roads to the venue, new roads and highways in the surrounding area of Rabat have been constructed to accommodate the growing number of fans accessing the stadium. Then, a new tramway connection was built directly connecting the stadium to the City of Casablanca. The project was planned in two phases. Firstly, the laying of 23.7 km of new tracks by 2028, and then another 21.3 km of tracks built for 2030. Then a second train terminal is allocated to the

Rabat–Salé Airport Salé Airport or Rabat–Salé Airport is an international airport located in the city of Salé, also serving Rabat, the capital city of Morocco and of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region. It is a joint use public and military airport, also hosti ...

, which directly connects the capital city Rabat to the Moroccan cities of

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

and Marrakech.

International football matches

2025 Africa Cup of Nations

Matches played in the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium for the 2025 African Cup of Nations:

References

External Links

* {{Authority control Football venues in Morocco International association football competitions hosted by Morocco Multi-purpose stadiums in Morocco Sport in Rabat Venues of the African Games Diamond League venues