Is MetLife Stadium’s pitch fit to host the World Cup final? Players and coaches have concerns

As soon as the final player walked off the MetLife Stadium pitch after France’s 3-1 win against Senegal on June 16, the field maintenance crew streamed past them.

Like a well-oiled machine, one by one, workers walked the length of the grass field, examining every inch. They smoothed out certain areas, while stomping firmly on others. They tended to the playing surface with rakes and used large equipment to aerate and mow the lawn. Two women walking the field appeared to measure the grass’s length, jotting their notes down on clipboards. Orange and green flags were placed along the seams of the field.

While the 80,545 fans were departing the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the attention of the pitch maintenance team had already turned to the next match: Norway vs Senegal on June 22.

This is a side of the World Cup that fans won’t see this summer, but it is a hugely important one — particularly in the case of MetLife, which hosts the final in four weeks (July 19).

With two matches played there, and six more to come including the final, the condition of the playing surface is already raising concerns. High-profile players such as Brazil star Vinicius Junior and France’s Adrien Rabiot described the pitch as dry and difficult to play on, while Rabiot’s coach Didier Deschamps said it was “special”. (He didn’t mean it in a good way.)

FIFA, though, has come out in strong support of the condition of not just the pitch at MetLife but the condition of all 16 of the fields used for this tournament, saying they are in “excellent” condition.

“FIFA has invested more than five years in meticulous and collaborative research, testing and innovation, working closely with leading turf experts, stadium operators and football stakeholders, to deliver the best possible playing surfaces for players,” the governing body said in a statement to The Athletic. “The pitches at all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums remain in excellent condition from both a playability and player safety perspective.”

There was also a fair amount of criticism of the MetLife pitch on social media from people watching the France-Senegal game at home.

“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,” said the statement from FIFA. “Variations in the appearance of some surfaces, whether on television or in person, do not necessarily reflect the quality, health or playability of the pitch.”

The quality of the pitch has been a lingering concern, though, dating back to last summer’s Club World Cup, which involved nine matches at the stadium, including the final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. The coaches of both Porto and Palmeiras were critical of the pitch after the opening game of the Club World Cup.

Before that tournament, FIFA had a six-day window in early June 2025 to prepare the grass for the international competition. For the current World Cup, the pitch installation process began in early May of this year. Pitch officials said at the time that the first big test of the playing surface would come at the World Cup, with the first game there between Brazil and Morocco on June 13.

It did not take long for questions to surface about the field’s condition, with Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior describing the field as difficult to play on. “Because of the weather and the heat, the grass dries out quickly and the game ends up being very slow. We can’t build up a rhythm,” the Real Madrid player told TNT Sports Brazil.

“That makes things difficult because we want to play. We want to move the ball from one side to the other and this disrupts our game. But we have to adapt because I believe it will be like this all tournament. Everyone will have to play on the same surfaces. We will improve and get some important wins.”

Three days later, it was France against Senegal on the same pitch. When France’s head coach Deschamps was asked about it, he smiled and, at first, said he wasn’t sure he would answer the question. He quickly changed his mind, calling it a “a special surface — it’s different.”

“We need to get used to this. There might be some cement below the grass. You have very short shards of grass here. But we do adjust. This does create a change, but we take these technicalities into account.”

Rabiot shared a similar assessment. “Well,” he started, “the pitch was… I don’t know if I’d even call it that. It seemed more like an artificial pitch. It was hard and rigid, but it’s like that for every team. You need to adapt to the conditions.

“I hope we find better pitches in our other games.”

The World Cup pitch at MetLife was sourced from a turf farm in North Carolina and required 27 trucks to transport the grass in a 12-hour journey to East Rutherford. The original plan was to use grass from Tuckahoe Turf Farms in nearby Hammonton, N.J., but a harsh winter forced FIFA to pivot. The pitch itself has several layers beneath it, including complex irrigation and vacuum ventilation systems to help it survive the harsh weather patterns in the state. The turf requires around-the-clock care.

That was true even mid-match on Tuesday at MetLife, when workers quickly tended to the playing surface between halves, freshening it up for the remainder of the afternoon.

Workers with green “pitch” vests tended to the grass — once again stomping on its surface, smoothing out the grass and picking up what appeared to be dead grass from the pitch and tossing the debris into buckets. A sprinkler system watered the surface, seemingly to prevent it from drying out and slowing down the game.

“FIFA’s pitch management teams undertake extensive testing and monitoring before every match, including assessments of moisture levels, firmness and overall playing conditions,” FIFA said in a statement to The Athletic.

“Irrigation plans are tailored to the specific requirements of each venue and matchday conditions, and surfaces are continuously monitored throughout the tournament. Pitches are irrigated in line with established protocols before and during matches, with moisture levels closely monitored throughout the day.

“FIFA’s focus remains on providing players with safe, consistent and high-performing playing surfaces across all venues throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026.”

Six more World Cup matches will be played at MetLife this summer, with games resuming there on Monday (June 22) when Senegal returns to face Norway. Senegal may have a slight advantage over Norway because of already having played on the pitch.

June 22: Norway vs Senegal (8pm ET, 1am BST, June 23)

June 25: Ecuador vs Germany (4pm ET, 9pm BST)

June 27: Panama vs England (5pm ET, 10pm BST)

June 30: Round of 32 (5pm ET, 10pm BST)

July 5: Round of 16 (4pm ET, 9pm BST)

July 19: Final (3pm ET, 8pm BST)

Each game played will offer another test case as pitch staff prepare for the final on July 19. That showpiece fixture will be extra complex, too, considering a half-time show is expected to be staged on the pitch.

The senior pitch manager David Graham previously told The Athletic that organizers intentionally gave staff a two-week window between the round of 16 match there on July 5 and July 19, so they can create the “absolute best-case scenario” for the final.

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