Who are Populous, the stadium architects behind World Cups? | OneFootball

Populous, the Anglo-Saxon specialist in sports venues, worked on five of the 16 stadiums at the 2026 World Cup and is designing the 115,000-seat Stade Hassan II near Casablanca for 2030.

According to L'Équipe, the practice grew from the US arm of HOK Sport in Kansas City, later joined by teams in the UK and Australia. Over four decades it has become a global leader, with projects including the London Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Its 2026 venues are in Kansas City, Houston, Miami, Foxborough near Boston, where France beat Norway 3-1, and Monterrey in Mexico. NRG Stadium in Houston opened in 2002 as the NFL’s first retractable-roof arena. Gillette Stadium, also from 2002, adds a vast videoboard, a lighthouse and a split-level design intended to offer clear views.

Monterrey’s 53,500-seat ground, inaugurated in 2015, draws on the Sierra Madre and is often rated among Latin America’s most elegant. Miami’s 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium has a dramatic suspended canopy. Kansas City’s Arrowhead amplifies noise and holds the world record as the loudest open-air stadium.

For 2030 in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, Populous delivered Rabat’s rebuilt 69,000-seat Prince Moulay Abdellah in September 2025, which hosted the highly controversial Morocco v Senegal Africa Cup of Nations final. With Oualalou+ Choi, it is developing the Moussem-inspired Stade Hassan II about 30 km from Casablanca, a 115,000-seat, tent-like arena on 34 masts with gardens 28 metres up, hoped to emerge in 2027.

Source: L'Équipe