Concerns Over MetLife Stadium Pitch During World Cup Matches
Adrien Rabiot walked off the MetLife Stadium pitch with three points in his pocket and a frown on his face.
France had just opened their World Cup campaign with a controlled 3-1 win over Senegal in New Jersey, Rabiot playing every minute and laying on Bradley Barcola’s goal. The performance was solid. The surface, in his eyes, was anything but.
“I don’t even know if you can call it that”
The New York New Jersey Stadium, better known as MetLife and usually home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, is carrying a temporary grass pitch for this tournament. On Tuesday night, it came under heavy fire.
“The pitch... I don’t even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface – quite hard and quite rigid,” said the 31-year-old midfielder after the final whistle.
It was not an isolated complaint. Brazil’s Vinicius Junior had already sounded the alarm after his side’s 1-1 draw with Morocco in their opener at the same venue.
“In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish and we can’t get into our rhythm,” the forward said.
Two elite technicians, two games, one common theme: the ball is not moving as it should on this World Cup stage.
A World Cup final on a “rigid” field
MetLife is no ordinary venue in this tournament. It will host England’s final group game against Panama on 27 June, then the World Cup final itself on 19 July. The eyes of the world will be on a surface that has already drawn criticism from some of its biggest stars.
The stadium’s usual artificial turf has long carried a grim reputation in NFL circles. The so‑called “MetLife curse” has become part of league folklore, a byword for serious injuries on a surface players distrust.
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers became the latest high-profile casualty in September, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament there. For footballers now stepping onto a hastily laid grass pitch over that same base, the concern is different but the anxiety is familiar: can they trust the ground beneath their feet?
The organisers have installed a temporary natural surface over the artificial base to meet World Cup requirements. On paper, it solves the problem. In practice, players are describing a field that plays like the very thing it was meant to replace.
Hard. Rigid. Drying too quickly in the heat. Slowing the game, sapping rhythm, muting the fluidity that defines sides like France and Brazil.
More games, same questions
MetLife will not get a breather. Senegal return there to face Norway on 22 June, the next test of how this pitch holds up to repeated elite-level use.
Across the tournament, eight temporary grass pitches have been dropped into 16 host venues. Boston Stadium, where Scotland edged Haiti 1-0 in their opener last week, is working off the same template. Scotland are back there for their second Group C match against Morocco on Friday (23:00 BST), another night when players will quickly discover whether the surface helps or hinders their plans.
For now, France can live with the imperfections. They have their win, their goals, their early control of the group. But as the stakes rise and the spotlight intensifies on New Jersey, one question will hang over the concrete bowl that is MetLife Stadium.
On the night a world champion is crowned, will the pitch be worthy of the occasion?
