MetLife’s World Cup grass field faces final test after early concerns
· Yahoo Sports
MetLife Stadium’s field has been criticized over the years. Players have contended the synthetic turf used for NFL games has contributed to numerous major injuries, prompting repeated calls to replace it with natural grass.
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Fans got their first glimpse of what that could look like during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as FIFA requires all venues to have natural grass fields for the tournament.
But not even a surface change has spared MetLife from more complaints.
Some World Cup players, such as Brazil forward Vinícius Júnior, have said the pitch is dry. Others, like French midfielder Adrien Rabiot, believe it was too hard. There's also been talk about its patchiness.
“It’s a special surface. It’s different for sure. We’ll get used to this, I guess,” France manager Didier Deschamps said through an interpreter after his side’s June 16 match versus Senegal at MetLife.
There’s only one World Cup match remaining in East Rutherford − the final on Sunday, July 19 − following seven previous games hosted at the stadium. In the two weeks between MetLife’s penultimate World Cup game and the final, FIFA had time to remedy some of the issues, including watering system problems and the surface’s hardness.
The Record and NorthJersey.com spoke to several turfgrass experts about their thoughts on MetLife’s temporary pitch before it’s showcased one last time this weekend.
“There always should be room for improvement if you look critically at things," said Mike Hahn, a turfgrass researcher and human physiology professor at the University of Oregon. "But has there been increased risk of injury or a dramatic change to the actual flow of the games? I don't think you can say that.”
“If there is some sort of inconsistency with the way the irrigation system is working, my gut sense is they'll make it right,” said Frank Rossi, director of the Agricultural Sciences program at Cornell University.
Creating MetLife’s World Cup pitch was a joint effort between FIFA and researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Tennessee, which were chosen due to professors John Sorochan and Trey Rogers’ previous work at the 1994 World Cup.
The plan called for laying a drainage mat on top of asphalt, which sits under a layer of sand and hybrid bermudagrass.
Many have said the field’s dry grass has slowed down the pace of play during games, even though that hasn’t been reflected in scoring totals. MetLife ranks eighth of the 16 World Cup venues with 3.14 goals scored per match, above the tournament-wide average of 2.91.
“We want to play. We want to move the ball from one side to the other, and this disrupts our game,” Júnior said after Brazil’s group match at MetLife against Morocco. “But we have to adapt because I believe it will be like this all tournament. Everyone will have to play on the same surfaces.”
Hahn said the dry pitch could be due to the bermudagrass, which is naturally less moist. Hot temperatures across the last few weeks have likely played a factor in the dry grass as well, he added.
Rossi also believes MetLife has had trouble getting a uniform application of water on the field, which would provide the wetter surface players crave. Sprinklers turn on at every mid-half hydration break and halftime of each match, but that sometimes doesn’t prevent the pitch from drying out.
“Bermudagrass is good at resilience and resistance to heat, but potentially might just be a shorter, drier grass in general compared to some of the others that have been used in San Francisco and in Seattle specifically,” Hahn said.
Another consistent grievance has been the field’s firmness, as France’s Rabiot mentioned. That could be due to the asphalt layer underneath the grass and sand, Hahn says.
Stiffer surfaces often lead to more “wear and tear” on players’ bodies, Hahn explained. Another softer layer on top of the asphalt could’ve provided more shock absorption, which helps prevent injuries.
Rossi acknowledged the firmness of MetLife’s field, but doesn’t think it has impacted much. He believes the pitch’s hardness is within FIFA’s typical tolerance.
“I don't see the firmness of the field causing an issue with it at all relative to how the game's played,” Rossi said.
In a statement to The Record and NorthJersey.com, FIFA said its pitch management teams “undertake extensive testing and monitoring before every match.” That includes checking firmness and moisture levels, which are assessed throughout each game.
Irrigation plans, meanwhile, are tailored to each specific venue and vary depending on matchday conditions, FIFA said.
“The pitches at all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums remain in excellent condition from both a playability and player safety perspective," FIFA said. "While there have been comments regarding the visual appearance of certain areas of the playing surface at NYNJ Stadium, FIFA's Turf Management Team's assessment is that every pitch is healthy and performing as intended for elite competition."
Both Rossi and Hahn believe the field complaints have been slightly blown out of proportion. Players can feel even the smallest difference in the pitch, whereas field managers might not notice that discrepancy in testing, Hahn said.
They think FIFA has done as much as it can to mitigate the issues. At halftime of some of MetLife’s matches, volunteers have been seen squishing pieces of the grass back in place to improve any patchy sections. The two weeks between the Norway-Brazil Round of 16 match on July 5 and the final should also help.
Now, that work will be put to the test one last time in Sunday’s final. Rossi believes the pitch will be as ready as it can be.
“I can promise you, if there's an issue that they can fix, they're going to fix it,” he said. “It's the biggest sporting event in the world.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: MetLife’s World Cup grass field faces final test after early concerns