Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no scepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.
Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.
Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.
The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75 000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.
Sunday’s final saw Senegal edge Morocco 1-0 after extra time, having stormed off when a penalty was awarded against them in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes. Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the spot kick and Senegal won with a Pape Gueye goal.
In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the kingdom.
An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned.
–Reuters–
