Five years of meticulous and collaborative research and innovation, aimed at providing the best possible surface for the players, have culminated in the installation of the pitch which will be used for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ final at New York New Jersey Stadium. The pitch was laid over two days after being transported several hundred kilometres in lorries from Carolina Green Turf Farm in North Carolina . It will be used for the first time when Brazil meet Morocco on June 13, one of eight matches – including the final on 19 July – which will be hosted by the stadium.

"FIFA has actually put a lot of time, effort into the research project. When it comes to delivering a field for the World Cup or for a tournament, to have those numbers, have all that thought process, it's been very beneficial," said David Graham, Senior Pitch Manager, FIFA Tournaments Infrastructure. Mr Graham then explained the next steps. “On Sunday, we will commence our hybrid stitching process. So, that will usually take four to five days, depending on the weather, of course,” he said. “Once that is done, we will continue with some top dressing and some aeration, general practices that we would have – mowing, watering, irrigation. And then we just rinse and repeat until we start getting closer to the tournament, and then we really hone in our practices to what you would see on the first match day.”

He said that “close to six or seven years” of research had gone into ensuring that the pitches at all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums across Canada, Mexico and the United States. The research was helped by observations from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. “FIFA itself, and the pitch management team, is guided by the science to deliver what we need to deliver for match day. So, it’s been quite refreshing and well publicised that this is what we do: we go with the research; it’s what guides our process,” he said. One of the priorities has been to ensure consistent playing surfaces in every venue, regardless of climate and altitude. “A successful tournament for us would be where all the fields play the same and we get consistent surfaces,” he said. “But the players’ safety is obviously paramount and aesthetically we like to make sure that these pitches look fantastic on the world stage.”