Saudi Arabia wants to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and the country is looking to catch eyes with a bid that mentions building a stadium more than 1,000 feet above the ground in a desert city that does not exist yet.
According to the official bid, Saudi Arabia plans to construct the stadium in a linear city called THE LINE, which is projected to measure 1,640 feet high, 656 feet wide and 105 miles long.
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The city is a part of NEOM, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure development project in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern region that the country expects will help “reduce dependence on oil, diversify the economy and develop the private sector.”
NEOM expects the city to house a population of 9 million, featuring electric cars and buses, neighborhoods, hotels, an airport, a hospital and, now, a soccer arena, all between two mirrored structures.
Like its planned host city, NEOM Stadium will reportedly run entirely on renewable energy generated mainly from solar and wind sources and feature a capacity of over 45,000. The bid mentioned that the stadium’s construction would begin in 2027 and end in 2032. Construction will place the stadium at the top of the city, about 1,150 feet above ground.
Work on THE LINE began in October 2021 with earthmoving and tunneling. New Atlas reported in February that the project’s first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2030. Saudi Arabia initially hoped for 1.5 million residents in the city by 2030, but a Bloomberg report from April cited an anonymous source who said the government expects only 300,000 people by then.
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