The Mohammed V Stadium ( ar, ملعب محمد الخامس, french: Stade Mohammed V) is a multi-purpose stadium which is part of the Mohammed V Athletic Complex () which is named after King Mohammed V and situated at the heart of

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, in the western part of the Maârif neighborhood. The stadium has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

of 67,000, making it the largest and the oldest football stadium in

. It primarily hosts

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches, serving as the home ground of the

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team,french: Équipe du Maroc de football nicknamed "the Atlas Lions", represents Morocco in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, also known as F ...

and local rival

football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...

Wydad AC Wydad Athletic Club ( ar, نادي الوداد الرياضي, ) commonly referred to as Wydad AC and known as Wydad, or simply as WAC, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that ...

and

Raja CA Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

. In 1997, the stadium set a record of attendance of 110,000 during the Casablanca football derby and a match between the Moroccan national team against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

. The same record attendance was repeated during Morocco's match against Argentina in 2004.

History

On March 6, 1955, the stadium was inaugurated under the name in honour of the French boxer, with a capacity of 30,000. The following year, after the independence of Morocco, it took the name of . This stadium witnessed

qualify for the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

, which was their first ever World Cup. At the end of the 1970s, in preparation for the

1983 Mediterranean Games The IX Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 1983), commonly known as the 1983 Mediterranean Games, were the 9th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Casablanca, Morocco, from 3 to 17 September 1983 ...

which were held in Casablanca, the stadium was closed for a major renovation; with an increase of the seating capacity, installation of an electronic scoreboard and construction of a 12,000-capacity indoor gymnasium and a 3,000-capacity Olympic-sized swimming pool around the stadium. It reopened in 1981 under its current name, Stade Mohammed V. Today, the complex has the stadium itself, the gymnasium, the swimming pool, a 650 m² media centre, a conference room, a meeting room, a care centre, and an anti-doping centre. Stade Mohammed V is located right in the centre of Casablanca. The international airport in Casablanca, also named after Mohammed V, is 25 kilometres from the stadium and the Casa-Voyageurs rail station is 5 kilometres from the stadium. The stadium has a parking lot with a capacity of 1,000 cars. In the 2006–07 season, the stadium was renovated again with the inclusion of a semi-artificial lawn of a high standard. It reopened in April 2007. A reform agreement was signed in 2015 between the

Ministry of Youth and Sports A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. The Ministry of Youth and Sp ...

Royal Moroccan Football Federation The Royal Moroccan Football Federation ( ar, الجامعة الملكية المغربية لكرة القدم), (french: Fédérarion Royale marocaine de football) is the governing body of football in Morocco. It was established in 1956. It beca ...

, the

City Council and the Ministry of the Interior, allocating a budget of 220 million Moroccan dirhams. This amount was mainly allocated to rehabilitate the stadium to meet international standards, such as the quality of the chairs, grass and other equipment of the other facilities, including the electronic clock, clothing stores, rest areas, the press platform and the corridors, in addition to repairs in its surroundings. Currently, Mohammed V Stadium is built on an area of 12 hectares (12,262 square metres), and is considered a masterpiece of Moroccan sports, as it accommodates about 80,000 spectators and includes a large sports hall containing 12,000 seats, and includes facilities for many sports, such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and an Olympic

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

pool.

Usage

Matches

International events

The stadium hosted the following international events: *

* 1983 Palestine Cup of Nations for Youth * 1988 African Cup of Nations Final *

1998 CAF Super Cup 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

2000 CAF Super Cup The 2000 CAF Super Cup was the eighth CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the African Cup of Champion ...

* 2015 African Amateur Boxing Championships * 2017 CAF Champions League Final *

2018 CAF Super Cup The 2018 CAF Super Cup (officially the 2018 Total CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous se ...

* 2018 African Nations Championship Final * 2021 CAF Champions League Final * 2022 CAF Champions League Final

References

External links

Stadium profile and photos
at ''World Stadiums''
Stadium profile and photos
at ''Daum Cafe''

at ''Fussball Tempel'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stade Mohammed V Sports venues completed in 1955 Football venues in Morocco Athletics (track and field) venues in Morocco

Sports venues in Casablanca Stade Mohamed V Stade Mohamed V 1955 establishments in Morocco Stadiums of the African Games