Researchers from the University of Tennessee, Michigan State University and FIFA are working as part … [+]
Alan Ferguson, FIFA’s head of pitches, always knew the biggest challenge for FIFA 2026 in North America centered on creating a uniform field experience.
“The challenge is to make [the grass] behave the same,” Ferguson tells me.
And that’s why in June 2022 FIFA’s Pitch Management Team implemented a research and development project, creating a research center focused on building the tournament’s playing surfaces. By partnering with the University of Tennessee and Michigan State University, the team is in the midst of a multi-year plan to understand just what is needed to make fields play uniform across three time zones, three countries and three unique climatic regions.
The research study is well underway, delivering early results on grass types and field construction needs across 16 stadiums, all with the focus on ensuring a similar experience for the players, whether playing in a domed stadium or at the variety of outdoor locales.
MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is one of 16 stadiums hosting the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North … [+]
Creating the best grass starts below the turf. And you need space to give grass a quality foundation. Eight of the tournament’s 16 stadiums come as traditional soccer venues with enough room to house the 15-inch base of sand, soil and grass. The other eight stadiums weren’t designed for soccer, and some are limited to only 5 to 6 inches of space for the base. Those venues will require a “shallow profile.”
The act of reducing the typical construction requires the researchers to investigate about a dozen concepts that can still support the natural turf required for FIFA World Cup play. The group has already short-listed three systems and has one they think may provide the answer. The next key milestone involves crafting a full field in North America with the shallow profile to allow a live test.
“It is okay in a research farm, but there’s no test like the real thing,” Ferguson says. “We want to get a full-size field and have grounds teams come and watch the install, look at maintenance and watch games played on it to see how it behaves and give us enormous data to feed back into our research.”
The team believes they have a quality list of potential sites and hope to have that test in place by the end of 2024. “What we need to do is make sure [the shallow profile fields] can behave like the natural pitches,” Ferguson says. “That is the big challenge.”
While the stadiums that can handle the full base under the grass will do so, all those limited by space will employ the heavily researched shallow profile system.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington is one of the host sites for FIFA 2026 and also an indoor venue with a … [+]
Then comes the actual grass. Ferguson says that with the differing climatic regions, they expect to have three to four different grass varieties in place across the tournament. “We knew there would have to be diversity,” he says. “It’s okay to have different species of grass.”
No matter the grass type, expect a mix of natural and artificial to play a role in the World Cup. Ferguson says that while the elite level preference is to play on natural grass, creating hybrid varieties that marriage synthetic fibers into natural turf has “proven to be a successful way forward.”
The team is currently researching eight different hybrids and are continually collaborating with the NFL and MLS to understand the benefits of all the options.
Having different species of grass won’t impact the play on the field, Ferguson says, if they can get them to behave the same based on the construction of the pitches. Already the team has identified four key cultivars, although they are still working to narrow down some of the specifics. In the mix are the traditional players, such as Kentucky bluegrass, Bermuda and ryegrass for cooler areas. The team is also looking at installing a type of Kikuyu grass for Mexico City that can handle both the altitude and temperature, although that grass may still need some “beefing up.”
At the end of the day, Ferguson says growing the ideal FIFA pitch goes back to basic biology. “Any green plant needs sunlight, some fresh air and a little bit of water,” he says. FIFA is working with different companies across the world to incorporate grow light technology into the mix, looking to “replace natural elements that have been lost.”
As the FIFA-led team continues to navigate crafting pitches ready for 16 venues in three countries in 2026, Ferguson believes having a research center in place provides the right solution. “We are in a good place,” he says. “We are where I hoped we could be.”
