Home World Cup Why some Membership World Cup pitches ‘aren’t nice’ — and what meaning for the 2026 World Cup

Why some Membership World Cup pitches ‘aren’t nice’ — and what meaning for the 2026 World Cup

by Soccer-News

“The pitches,” Actual Madrid’s Jude Bellingham , “aren’t nice.” They’ve been “sluggish,” in line with a number of gamers, and “dry.” From New Jersey to Seattle, grass fields in place for the Membership World Cup have been “completely completely different” than those European groups are used to. On some, Bellingham mentioned, the ball “holds up” and “barely bounces”; on one other, PSG coach Luis Enrique mentioned, it was “leaping round like a rabbit.” At MetLife Stadium, Borussia Dortmund’s Niklas Süle : “The pitch was fairly horrible.”

And no, they weren’t making excuses. Bellingham and Enrique had been talking after victories. They had been merely highlighting what Enrique referred to as “an apparent drawback,” and one which .

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“Hopefully,” Bellingham concluded, “somebody will have a look at that going into the World Cup subsequent 12 months.”

Happily, scores of specialists have been wanting into it. And in reality, one motive for the suboptimal Membership World Cup surfaces is that, in some instances, infrastructure put in particularly for 2026 isn’t but in use.

At Seattle’s Lumen Subject, for instance, the . Its grass will root into a number of inches of sand, and subsist on a purpose-built irrigation system. It ought to really feel and play extra like a everlasting grass discipline — like those in Philadelphia and Miami, which haven’t obtained a lot, if any, criticism this summer season.

Seattle’s Membership World Cup pitch, then again, round 10 days prematurely. It’s strips of sod positioned on high of momentary flooring. It is just a pair inches thick, in line with one individual accustomed to its set up. And it should be watered by hand.

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Nevertheless it mustn’t be over-watered, or else it would get soggy and stuffed with divots — as a result of there aren’t a number of inches of sand to carry the surplus water, like there shall be subsequent summer season.

And with solely a regular dose of water, the grass can get parched beneath a day solar.

This, it appears, is the problem PSG encountered in Seattle.

“Because it was a synthetic pitch earlier than, and now a pure pitch, it’s important to water it by hand, and it dries out in 10 minutes,” Enrique mentioned.

PSG defender Achraf Hakimi added, by way of an interpreter: “It slows down the entire match a bit of bit when the sector may be very dry.”

A “Please Maintain Off” signal is seen close to the pitch grass previous to the FIFA Membership World Cup 2025 group B match between Seattle Sounders FC and Membership Atletico de Madrid at Lumen Subject on June 19, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Picture by Buda Mendes/Getty Photographs)

(Buda Mendes by way of Getty Photographs)MetLife Stadium’s momentary points

A number of groups have had an identical expertise at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is slated to host each the Membership World Cup closing and .

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“I do really feel just like the pitch induced us to be a bit imprecise,” Porto coach Martín Anselmi mentioned after a 0-0 draw with Palmeiras.

“I feel the pitch ought to have been watered a bit of extra,” Palmeiras winger Estêvão mentioned. “The ball was a bit of sluggish, which interferes with the tempo of the sport.”

MetLife, like different U.S. World Cup venues, has undergone development over the previous 18 months to prepared itself for 2026. It has and , two FIFA non-negotiables that can enable it to take care of a world soccer-standard grass discipline subsequent summer season.

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Previous to the Membership World Cup, although, Blair Christiansen, MetLife Stadium’s pitch supervisor for the match, that the momentary grass discipline had a “distinctive profile,” with a drainage layer — just like . An individual accustomed to MetLife’s plans confirmed to Yahoo Sports activities that its Membership World Cup discipline is certainly that so-called “shallow pitch profile.”

“It appears to be what we imagine shall be an excellent floor for the match,” Christiansen mentioned.

So, why was it “dry” when Porto performed Palmeiras on June 15, and nonetheless “a bit of bit dry,” Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, when Dortmund performed Fluminense on June 17? Why was it “nothing in comparison with the grass we [usually] play on,” as Dortmund’s Pascal Gross mentioned?

Maybe as a result of the sod was reduce from a New Jersey turf farm, trucked to MetLife, and fused collectively lower than every week earlier than the Membership World Cup started.

How the 2026 World Cup shall be completely different

MetLife Stadium hosted The Weeknd on June 7. Different Membership World Cup venues additionally hosted non-soccer occasions in Might or early June, inside weeks of kickoff. By the point FIFA received round to organizing this novel match , many stadium homeowners, intent on maximizing income, had already booked concert events or different reveals in or close to the identical window. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, for instance, had Metallica on June 3, and has Beyonce coming July 10 — which dominated it out because the potential host of a Membership World Cup semifinal.

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FIFA, due to this fact, had no leverage to barter longer runways for pitch installations previous to the match.

In 2026, although, it has already negotiated “unique use” durations that start weeks earlier than the World Cup. And a few fields will go in earlier. Atlanta will construct its grass pitch within the winter, previous to the 2026 MLS season, and preserve it till mid-summer.

The individual accustomed to MetLife’s plans instructed Yahoo Sports activities that it, too, would put in a traditional discipline for the 2026 World Cup. The “shallow pitch profile” is merely a brief answer for the Membership World Cup.

As for Seattle, a spokeswoman for the Seahawks, whose homeowners function Lumen Subject, directed inquiries to a spokeswoman for FIFA, who didn’t reply to an interview request.

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However basically, on the , there may be confidence that subsequent summer season shall be smoother.

Within the meantime, FIFA and its discipline managers are studying from the Membership World Cup, and adapting.

“FIFA continues to observe key efficiency indicators similar to floor hardness, traction, and ball roll,” a FIFA spokesperson wrote in a press release to Yahoo Sports activities. “Whereas acknowledging that grass kind and local weather differ in several components of the world, changes are made in actual time based mostly on climate circumstances, pitch utilization, and match schedules to make sure high-quality taking part in surfaces and prioritize participant security throughout all venues.

“FIFA all the time values direct suggestions from gamers and coaches. In some instances, this has led to adaptive measures — similar to pitch irrigation throughout cooling breaks — being launched for the primary time underneath FIFA protocol to help optimum ball motion in hotter circumstances.”

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