Football-mad nation hopes for World Cup final in its own ark

The rendering is dramatic, a vast white stadium inspired by the Maghrebi communal tent, known as a moussem.

- Eromo Egbejule

The language used to describe it is no less flowery: think of it as "almost like a Noah's Ark, a place for all nature and animals to come together", said Tarik Oualalou, head of Paris architecture firm Oualalou + Choi, one of five teams in the design consortium.

Then there is the size. Once finished, the 115,000-capacity Grand Stade Hassan II near Casablanca could be the world's largest football stadium - and location for the final of the 2030 World Cup Morocco is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal.

But like all grand stadium projects, there are questions over its cost, funding and how it will be built.

It's unclear if private backing will supplement the funding from state coffers. There is also speculation about the possible involvement of China. For Morocco, still basking in the euphoria of being the first Arab or African team to be World Cup semi-finalists in 2022, hosting the final of the biggest sporting showpiece boosts its long-held dream of joining football's greats.