When the United States hosted Copa Amrika – a prestigious competition featuring the best national teams from North and South America – last summer, it was expected to be an outcry before the main course, 2026, 2026 FIFA World CupCo-hosted with Mexico and Canada.
But instead of inspiring enthusiasm, the competition lagged behind Concern on quality With available statuside, with Player decipping “Disaster” area and organizer conmebol Publicly rescue They surfaces. Now, let’s question whether the US is ready for the World Cup, and FIFA is using this summer club World Cup to find answers.
For the first time, newly improved, 32-Team Club World Cup will be hosted by 12 places-most of them are used by NFL-across the America, bringing the choice Kylian mbappa, Erling Hayalland And Harry Kane For North America for competitive matches. As fans have projected to be able to see some of the world’s largest teams in the world real Madrid, Manchester City And Bayern Munich,
Five places-Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), Lumen Field (Seattle), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) and Metalife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ) -2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup, but the biggest challenge of the pose. Roofs that make it difficult to install grass for long periods.
For these types of places, the solution of conmebol in Copa Amrika was to use grass overlay, but this temporary solution was away from optimal. The overlay is kept together in pieces, so they have seams that can be uneven and, As the players toldDifferent over time.
In the light of Controversy In the last summer, in the fields, FIFA is doing things differently. Games have never been played on artificial grass in World Cup history, but FIFA is Resource In developing new strategies to bring grass to NFL stadiums, urge that there is no repeat of Copa Emica’s mistakes.
“We are focusing on our competitions of Club World Cup and World Cup 2026,” FIFA senior pitch manager, Allen Ferguson told ESPN. “With the previous editions of the World Cup, even there is no blueprint for us. It has never been as big, triple-hosted or now we have climax challenges. “
Copa Amrika’s ‘Disaster’ after the pitches, a new direction for the Club World Cup
In the last summer, coaches and players openly complained about grass conditions in the Conmbol tournament. The most Ire drawing stadiums were those who converted artificial turf to natural grass for competition, importing and patching the entire fields a few hours before the kickoff.
The Copa Emeric Stadiums included the MetLife Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Bank of America Stadium, AT & T Stadium, Sophie Stadium and NRG Stadium-all are mainly used for NFL Games and will also host the next summer World Cup. All of them have artificial turf, and some have roofs that prevent enough sun for grass. Argentina The national team goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez called the ground at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium last year as a “disaster”. The stadium will host eight World Cup Games in the next summer, including a semi -finals.
“Very bumpy,” Martinez said. “We faced a strong Canada on a pitch that was a disaster. It jumped on you as you ran.”
American men’s national team midfielder Weston McCeni The pitch installed by Conmebol also paid attention to problems.
“I think what Martinez was saying was completely true,” said McCeni. “You are playing on a football field, which is all patching, and it breaks every step you take. It is disappointing.”
In the case of artificial turf places such as Mercedes-Benz Stadium, grass panels were placed above the pitch in cross-section, causing complaints. But Conmebol insisted that the areas were safe.
“The grass in Atlanta did not make any danger at all,” was told by Frederico Nentas, director of the Conmebol competitions, in the last summer. “All tests came out sufficiently. I think there was a beauty of the area that caused a problem for the players. They care a lot about aesthetics.”
Despite the promise of conmebol’s frequent standards, each grass overlay received separate treatment after the commencement of Copa Amrika. Conmebol installed a pitch at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on 17 June at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium exactly three days before the tournament opener, while the surface was placed two weeks before the first game of the site at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. For the finals, Conmebol installed a new pitch in Hard Rock, four days before the kickoff. Conmebol stated that the lack of natural light at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium determined the timeline of the installation process.
FIFA will be extended at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, especially at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup, which is seen in the summer of the games to be held in this summer. Club for World Cup, Lionel MessiAntar Miami, Chelsea FC and Manchester City are among the teams ready to play there.
0:54
Can club be embarrassed for World Cup MLS?
Shaka Hisalope believes that Inter Miami needs to perform in the Club World Cup to avoid “embarrassing” for MLS.
Ferguson called FIFA Drafted a completely new scheme While considering the logistics of the 2025 Club World Cup, his team faced the first unseen challenges in another FIFA tournament.
“Using NFL stadiums with artificial turf, it is probably an area that distinguishes it from previous versions,” Ferguson said. “For a general World Cup, we do in standard pitch profiles and football-specific stadiums, so it will be relatively straight. We start building a year to get ready for the tournament. Here, it is completely different. That’s why we increased the research coming out of Qatar.”
FIFA requires natural grass For its major tournament, so there is no option but to find a way to change the game surface of each stadium. Ferguson and their team personalize the installation process of natural grass in each farm to maximize the capacity, taking into account the layout of each stadium.
For Copa Amrika, Conambol opted to make several natural grass overlays with a density of 25 millimeters to go to synthetic turf to each site, and followed a schedule to replace the fields in the later era of the tournament a few days before the kickoff. Quick turnaround and section overlay inspired most of the complaints from the participants, although FIFA insisted that it would not take the same view.
“We knew any temporary overlay, before 100 percent of the work was done, and we needed it for a long time,” said Ferguson.
A new way to bring grass to the World Cup fields
If the club is going to eliminate the problems of the World Cup, and the 2026 World Cup, Copa Amrika’s pitch, then FIFA will need to introduce new strategies to reduce the climate and region’s condition in the US.
Instead of swapping the fields as a tournament, FIFA is choosing to apply a pitch at each site for the entire tournament, and the fields will be installed two months ago in some stadiums. (FIFA will not explain in detail which places were the first establishment on the schedule.)
Overlay dismissed for all reasons that Copa attracted complaints during Amrika, FIFA prepared “shallow pitches” to completely change the synthetic base. Ferguson stated that they can be used without requirement for 60 days, characterizing a hybrid weaving of real and artificial grass that would be cut into 4 feet wide and 45 feet long strips if hydrally pressed together. This will then sit on top of a drainage layer that allows moisture and air under the grass roots-short grass can get water as required but it will not get much water. The result is an area that feels like natural grass but is temporary.
FIFA began testing the strategy during the Nations League matches in March, in which the American men’s national team used to play on the pitch of that type while facing Panama and Canada at the Sophie Stadium.
Usmnt midfielder Timothy Vah The pitch was “separated” labeled, stating that the players should be accustomed to the new ground before coming to the World Cup.
“It was interesting,” Weah said. “I think it’s something we need to use if we are going to play on it in the World Cup, and we just have to continue the game on it. But it was great.
“It was a heavy pitch for me. So heavy pitch means that after the games you find that stress on the body, but something that we all were going to have habit to play more on it.”
Forward Patrick Egimang “actually did not have many complaints about it, while further Jack McGlin” thought it was very good … very clever “and said that he had no” complaint. ” The team of FIFA and Ferguson were able to see the players and the ball interacts with the shallow pitch in real time so that whatever they can learn to adjust to.
Ferguson said, “We have various tests that have allowed us to make concrete decisions, to see how the site and players react to these solutions.” “This remains a special challenge, very unique, never done before, but cooperation. If we were about to distribute tomorrow, I should be convinced in delivery.”
The approach to the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup will vary slightly as two different logistic challenges, but Ferguson and their team will use a 32-club competition to adjust each aspect of grass for the international platform.
With two revolutionary formats to change the scope of Club World Cup and World Cup, FIFA will try strictly to avoid the legacy of events related to grass, which is a various functioning about grass and a new approach to fields.
