Real Madrid planning another major Bernabeu upgrade after £1.5bn redevelopment has left it TOO SMALL to host 2030 World Cup final

Real Madrid are looking to upgrade the Bernabeu just a year after work completed on their £1.5bn redevelopment of the stadium, because it is deemed too small to host a World Cup final.

Over the course of five years between 2019 and 2024, the Bernabeu underwent serious redevelopment, with a retractable roof, steel facade added to the exterior, a 360-degree LED scoreboard screen and an underground greenhouse to store the pitch outside of matchdays all part of the project.

But while Real Madrid's home stadium had a capacity of 81,044 before the renovation works, that figure has since reduced to 78,297, meaning it is no longer eligible to host a World Cup final. With Spain, Portugal and Morocco the joint hosts in 2030, that poses a real issue for Los Blancos and the club's worldwide image.

Real Madrid planning another significant Bernabeu upgrade

FIFA rules dictate that a World Cup final stadium must have a capacity of at least 80,000. While Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium subverted that requirement in 2018 with its 78,011 capacity, it remianed the largest football venue in Russia and, thus, FIFA's only option.

There's another stadium that could be used for the 2030 showpiece event, however, with Barcelona's Camp Nou set to exceed 100,000 seats when it is finally reopened later this year.

Morocco's Grand Stade Hassan II, meanwhile, is set to become the largest football stadium in world football when it is scheduled to open in 2028, with the 115,000-seater venue located in Benslimane.

That could spell disaster for the Bernabeu's chances of hosting another World Cup final, having seen Italy lift the trophy in 1982 after they beat West Germany 3-1. In order to give the stadium a fighting chance, Real Madrid are therefore planning another upgrade.

According to Spanish outlet Relevo, Real Madrid are already in the planning stages of adding more seats to the Bernabeu, which would take its capacity up to 85,000.

While this would still fall short of the two aforementioned 100,000-plus capacity grounds, the report suggests that the positive relationship between Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and FIFA president Gianni Infantino could help sway the decision.

In FourFourTwo's view, it's understandable why a club would want their stadium to host the World Cup final, especially when rivals like Barcelona are competing for the same prize, but to invest such a large amount of money to do so seems slightly farcical.

The fact the World Cup final has already been played on two seperate occasions at two venues - the Maracana in Brazil and the Azteca in Mexico - highlights how there is precedence for such an event to take place, though.