With Saudi Arabia left as the sole bidder to host football's 2034 Fifa World Cup, the inevitable question for the construction industry over the coming decade will be which firms will build the stadiums.

According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the top building contractors in Saudi Arabia are the four entities backed by the kingdom's sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund: Nesma & Partners, Almabani, Albawani and El-Seif Engineering Contracting. The firms have a collective total value of contracts under execution of over $17bn.

The other major players in the kingdom include Saudi Binladin Group ($5.4bn), Alfanar Projects ($3.8bn), WeBuild ($3bn), Saudi Baytur Construction ($2.8bn), Modern Building Leaders ($2.6bn) and Beijing Emirates Construction Arabia ($2.6bn).

Contractors outside the kingdom will also want to work on landmark stadium projects. Over the past decade, there were six stadiums built for the Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar, as well as several other stadium schemes across the region. The following were the main players involved in those projects:

HBK Contracting

Qatar's HBK Contracting built two of six new stadiums in the build-up to the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The contractor was involved in building the 80,000-seater Lusail Iconic Stadium, where the World Cup final was hosted, with China Railway Construction Corporation, as well as the 40,000-seater Ras Abu Aboud Stadium. The construction of both stadiums was completed in 2021.

China Railway Construction Corporation

China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) was HBK Contracting's joint venture partner for Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar. The plan to build the stadium was first announced in 2010. The joint venture of CRCC and HBK Contracting was awarded the main contract in 2016.

WeBuild

Italy's WeBuild was one of the consortium partners that built packages two and four of Al-Bayt al-Khor Stadium in Qatar. The other members of the consortium included Italian contractor Cimolai Rimond and local Galfar al-Misnad Engineering & Contracting.

Cimolai Rimond

Cimolai Rimond built packages two and four of Qatar's Al-Bayt al-Khor Stadium as part of the consortium. The main contract was awarded in 2015 and construction was completed in 2020.

Galfar al-Misnad Engineering & Contracting

The Qatari contractor was involved in building the 60,000-seater Al-Bayt al-Khor Stadium in Qatar. The stadium was built over an area of 295,485 square metres.

Bin Omran Group

Qatar-based Bin Omran Group built packages one and five of Al-Bayt al-Khor Stadium in Qatar. The construction of package one started in 2014 and was completed in 2015. The construction of package five was started in 2015 and finished in 2020.

Societe d’Enterprise et de Gestion

Lebanese contractor Societe d’Enterprise et de Gestion is the main contractor for Sabah al-Salem University City Stadium in Al-Shadidiyah, Kuwait. The stadium complex covers an area of about 6 square kilometres and involves the construction of a football stadium with two training football fields, an eight-lane racing track, a seven-floor auditorium and other associated facilities. The construction works began in 2021 are the project is expected to be completed by 2024.

Midmac Contracting Company

The Qatari contractor built Al-Wakrah Stadium and Khalifa Stadium in Qatar in a joint venture with Belgium’s Besix. The construction works for Khalifa Stadium were completed in 2017 and Al-Wakrah Stadium was completed in 2019.

Besix

Belgian contractor Besix built Qatar’s Al-Wakrah and Khalifa football stadiums in partnership with the local Midmac Contracting. 

Aljaber Engineering

Qatar’s Aljaber Engineering was the main contractor for the 40,000-seater Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha. The stadium covers an area of 510,000 square metres. In 2017, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy awarded the main construction contract to a joint venture of Aljaber Engineering and Turkish contractor Tekfen Construction. The construction works started in 2017 and the project was completed in 2021.

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*=Year-to-date | Sources: IMF, MEED Projects, MEED

MEED's October 2023 special report on Saudi Arabia includes: 

> COMMENT: Riyadh reshapes its global role
> POLITICS: Saudi Arabia looks both east and west
> SPORT: Saudi Arabia’s football vision goes global
> ECONOMY: Riyadh prioritises stability over headline growth
> BANKS: Saudi banks track more modest growth path
> UPSTREAM: Aramco focuses on upstream capacity building
> DOWNSTREAM: Saudi chemical and downstream projects in motion
> POWER: Riyadh rides power projects surge
> WATER: Saudi water projects momentum holds steady
> GIGAPROJECTS: Gigaproject activity enters full swing
> TRANSPORT: Infrastructure projects support Riyadh’s logistics ambitions
> JEDDAH TOWER: Jeddah developer restarts world’s tallest tower