So, they have undergone construction above and below ground. They will carve out space for wider fields. All 11 stadiums \u2014 even the four that play NFL football on natural grass \u2014 will bring in special sod carefully crafted by agronomists and approved by FIFA.<\/p>\n
They will also change their names to \u201cLos Angeles Stadium\u201d and \u201cNew York New Jersey Stadium\u201d rather than SoFi and MetLife. By FIFA decree, they will \u201cdebrand\u201d by covering or scrubbing thousands of logos and signage from their premises \u2014 everywhere from the walls of suites to the top of their retractable roofs.<\/p>\n
The following is a rundown of their makeover plans, which have been in development for years; and which, now, with the NFL season coming to a close with the Super Bowl this Sunday, are nearly ready for action.<\/p>\n
Grass replacing artificial turf<\/p>\n
Seven of the 11 U.S. stadiums \u2014 plus an eighth World Cup venue in Canada, Vancouver\u2019s BC Place \u2014 have had synthetic surfaces for their entire existence. Those stadiums are:<\/p>\n
Lumen Field in Seattle
\nSoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. (near Los Angeles)
\nAT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (near Dallas)
\nNRG Stadium in Houston
\nMercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
\nMetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (near New York)
\nGillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (near Boston)<\/p>\n
All have hosted soccer matches on natural grass over the years. But in most of those instances, the grass was laid, strip by strip, over artificial turf or directly on the stadium\u2019s floor. Some pitches played fine, but others felt spongy or jumpy and drew criticism from players<\/a>. Plus, if they were pieced together only a few days before a game, they\u2019d be patchy. But, on the other hand, if they were laid too early, the grass would start to die after multiple weeks without proper nourishment and air flow.<\/p>\n \n Grass laid over a non-grass surface at Minnesota\u2019s U.S. Bank Stadium at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup (Henry Bushnell)<\/p>\n So, years ago, experts concluded that the plan for 2026 would have to be different.<\/p>\n The solution was for stadiums to install irrigation and ventilation systems. Those will allow artificial-turf venues to build a more \u201cconventional\u201d grass field atop 10-plus inches of sand, and to maintain the field for two months as if it were a permanent playing surface. (They will then remove it and return to artificial turf before the 2026 NFL season, largely because artificial turf allows them to accommodate more non-sporting events in their downtime<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Over the past few years, researchers, FIFA\u2019s experts and stadium managers also explored an innovative plan for stadiums that wouldn\u2019t install necessary infrastructure below ground. They developed a \u201cshallow pitch profile,\u201d<\/a> featuring sod and a thinner layer of sand atop a permeable black drainage module. SoFi Stadium piloted the system at last year\u2019s Concacaf Nations League finals, and MetLife Stadium, among others, used it for the Club World Cup<\/a>. At some stadiums, a version of the \u201cshallow pitch\u201d concept will be used again in 2026, though the base layers of sand will be deeper than last summer \u2014 at least 10 inches deep, a FIFA spokesman told The Athletic. Exact specifications and modifications will vary from stadium to stadium.<\/p>\n The other barriers, literally, are roofs. Three U.S. stadiums \u2014 Mercedes-Benz Stadium, NRG Stadium and AT&T Stadium \u2014 are indoor venues with retractable roofs. A fourth, SoFi, is technically open-air but with a translucent roof that blocks about 65 percent of the sun\u2019s rays, according to Otto Benedict, the stadium\u2019s SVP in charge of facilities. Grass, of course, feeds on sunlight, so maintaining it indoors has been a challenge. But the solution has become relatively commonplace: LED \u201cgrow lights\u201d<\/a> that replicate sunlight.<\/p>\n In fact, the technology has become so advanced that stadiums will keep their retractable roofs closed for the duration of the World Cup. The venues in Atlanta and Houston, for example, will ship in a cool-season grass grown at a turf farm in Colorado, keep their buildings air conditioned at around 72 degrees Fahrenheit and trust that the grow lights will give the grass what it needs.<\/p>\n The grass will also be reinforced by synthetic fibers, which will be stitched into the sod, making it a \u201chybrid\u201d surface \u2014 around 90-95 percent natural grass and 5-10 percent artificial.<\/p>\n Most pitches will be installed in May, weeks before the start of the tournament, which kicks off June 11.<\/p>\n Widening the fields, at the expense of seats<\/p>\n The other main structural incongruence of NFL stadiums as World Cup venues was their narrowness.<\/p>\n They were built to get fans close to American football action, with concrete stands featuring built-in seats that curve from sideline to endline. There is space, of course, between the playing field\u2019s boundary and the first row of seats, but not quite enough space for a World Cup.<\/p>\n![\"Grass](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1553-scaled.jpg\")
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![\"Removable](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1769-scaled.jpg\")
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