In the summer of 2026, the world’s best players will gather in the New York City metropolitan area for potentially the most-watched soccer game in history.
Surprisingly, FIFA revealed in February 2024 that MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jerseypart of the New York City metropolitan area, will have the lucrative and historic honor of hosting the 2026 World Cup final.
It was widely reported for months, in the lead-up to the reveal of the 2026 World Cup schedule, that AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, would be selected to host the tournament final, beating out MetLife Stadium and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. in honor, but that ultimately was not the case.
With this appointment, the venue’s playing surface immediately became a major topic of conversation. MetLife Stadium currently features a grass field that has often been criticized for a perceived increased risk of injury.
sports news brings you all the latest information available on the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, which has been scheduled for July 19, 2026.
Will the 2026 World Cup final be played on grass or artificial turf?
While MetLife Stadium has a permanent grass surface installed and in use for most events, they will have to make a change for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
This is because FIFA requires that World Cup matches be played on grass. Therefore, the 2026 World Cup final, and the other seven matches that will be played in the stadium throughout the tournament, will be played on a natural grass surface.
However, the questions and potential controversy do not end there. Many times in the recent past across the United States, stadiums with grass fields have attempted to install temporary grass surfaces over their grass to host individual soccer games, with questionable results.
According Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer In 2022, FIFA had partnered with a professor at the University of Tennessee to research growing grass for various climates and stadium situations across the United States at unique World Cup venues across the country.
It is unclear whether FIFA will require stadiums to install permanent grass surfaces that can be wheeled in and out of the venue as needed (an extremely costly undertaking) or whether they will grant stadiums the ability to install a temporary grass pitch.
In 2019, the USMNT players union spoke out against the decision to install a temporary grass field at FC Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium for a summer friendly against Venezuela. claiming the playing field constituted “a substantially increased risk of injury” and was “a waste of 90 minutes.” Venezuela won the match 3-0 with three goals in the first half.
Regardless of how it is achieved, the 2026 World Cup matches will be played on grass in one form or another.
What is the playing surface at MetLife Stadium?
Beginning with the 2023 NFL season, MetLife Stadium features a FieldTurf Core HD playing surface for NFL games and other events at the 82,500-seat venue.
New York Giants owner John Mara made the switch to UBU Speed S5-M turf in the 2022-23 NFL offseason after significant criticism from around the league regarding perceived increased risk of injuries that the field presents. That grass had been installed for five years and was installed in the summer of 2017.
Concerns about the risk of injuries on the MetLife Stadium field turf have circulated since the venue’s inception. Opened in 2010 after a three-year construction process, MetLife Stadium’s turf has often come under fire for its propensity for injuries. Whether that propensity is real or simply a perception is another matter, but the conversation has been constant throughout the stadium’s lifespan.
Last year, MetLife Stadium’s NFL tenant, the New York Jets, lost its starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a torn Achilles tendon in the season opener. Giants signal-caller Daniel Jones tore his ACL midseason last year, although that injury occurred on the road in Las Vegas, whose home base, Allegiant Stadium, has a permanent natural grass surface and rollable that can be interchanged with a grass surface used by the Giants. UNLV football team.
MetLife Stadium has made improvements to its grass field in the past. For example, New York Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon tore his ACL on stadium turf in 2014, a high-profile injury since it occurred when Hixon clumsily stepped on a seam of a removable turf logo on the midfield. Since then, the NFL logo was left at midfield and was not changed between games for the Jets and Giants.
