After Copa America 'disaster,' FIFA is using Club World Cup to be ready for 2026

When the United States hosted the Copa America -- a prestigious contention featuring the champion nationalist teams from North and South America -- past summer, it was expected to beryllium an appetizer earlier the main course, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted alongside Mexico and Canada.

But alternatively of inspiring excitement, the contention near down concerns implicit the quality of pitches disposable stateside, with players decrying "disaster" fields and organizer CONMEBOL publicly defending those surfaces. Now, questions linger astir whether the U.S. is acceptable for the World Cup, and FIFA is utilizing this summer's Club World Cup to find answers.

For the archetypal time, the recently reformatted, 32-team Club World Cup volition beryllium hosted by 12 venues -- astir of them utilized by the NFL -- crossed the U.S., bringing the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane to North America for competitory matches. As fans expect being capable to ticker immoderate of the world's top teams, including Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, FIFA and U.S. stadiums volition usage the contention arsenic a precursor to adjacent year's World Cup, that tournament's largest and astir logistically challenging variation yet.

Five venues -- Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), Lumen Field (Seattle), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) and MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) -- volition big some the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup, but astir of them airs challenges: They are NFL stadiums designed chiefly for artificial turf, and immoderate person roofs that marque it hard to instal writer for a agelong period.

CONMEBOL's solution astatine the Copa America for these types of venues was to usage writer overlays, but that impermanent solution was acold from optimal. The overlays are enactment unneurotic successful pieces, truthful they person seams that tin beryllium uneven and, as players pointed out, rip isolated implicit time.

In airy of the controversy implicit the fields past summer, FIFA is doing things differently. Never successful World Cup past person games been played connected artificial grass, but FIFA is putting resources into processing caller strategies to bring writer to NFL stadiums, insistent that determination beryllium nary repetition of Copa America's mistakes.

"We are singularly focused connected our ain competitions of the Club World Cup and World Cup 2026 -- tournaments with challenges that person ne'er been done before," FIFA's elder transportation manager, Alan Ferguson, told ESPN. "There is nary blueprint for america to follow, adjacent with erstwhile editions of the World Cup. It's ne'er been arsenic big, triple-hosted oregon person the climactic challenges we person now."

After Copa America's 'disaster' pitches, a caller absorption for the Club World Cup

Throughout past summer, coaches and players openly complained astir the conditions of the writer astatine the CONMEBOL tournament. The stadiums drafting the astir ire were those that converted artificial turf to earthy writer for the competition, importing and patching up full fields conscionable hours earlier kickoff.

Copa America stadiums included MetLife Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Bank of America Stadium, AT&T Stadium, SoFi Stadium and NRG Stadium -- each of which are chiefly utilized for NFL games and volition big adjacent summer's World Cup, too. They each person artificial turf, and immoderate person roofs that forestall capable prima for grass. Argentina nationalist squad goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez labeled the tract astatine Mercedes-Benz Stadium a "disaster" past year. The stadium volition big 8 World Cup games adjacent summer, including a semifinal.

"Very bumpy," Martinez said. "We faced a beardown Canada broadside connected a transportation that was a disaster. It jumped connected you arsenic you ran."

U.S. men's nationalist squad midfielder Weston McKennie besides noticed problems successful the transportation installed by CONMEBOL.

"I deliberation what Martínez was saying was wholly true," McKennie said. "You're playing connected a shot tract with laid writer that's each patchy, and it breaks up each measurement you take. It's frustrating."

In the lawsuit of venues with artificial turf specified arsenic Mercedes-Benz Stadium, panels of writer were laid connected apical of the transportation successful cross-sections, which led to the complaints. But CONMEBOL insisted that the fields were safe.

"The writer successful Atlanta posed perfectly nary threat," Frederico Nantes, CONMEBOL's manager of competitions, told ESPN past summer. "All the tests came retired sufficient. I deliberation the aesthetic of the tract was what posed a occupation for the players. They attraction a batch astir aesthetics."

Despite CONMEBOL's committedness to adhere to accordant standards, each writer overlay received antithetic attraction erstwhile the Copa America began. CONMEBOL installed the transportation astatine Mercedes-Benz Stadium conscionable 3 days earlier the tourney opener June 17, portion the aboveground astatine Miami's Hard Rock Stadium was placed 2 weeks earlier the venue's archetypal game. For the final, CONMEBOL installed a caller transportation astatine Hard Rock 4 days earlier kickoff. CONMEBOL said the deficiency of earthy airy astatine Mercedes-Benz Stadium dictated the timeline of the installation process.

FIFA volition look heightened scrutiny astatine Mercedes-Benz Stadium successful peculiar heading into the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup fixed the measurement of complaints astir it during the Copa America, arsenic good arsenic the caliber of games taking spot determination this summer. For the Club World Cup, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, Chelsea FC and Manchester City are among the teams acceptable to play there.

play

0:54

Could the Club World Cup beryllium an embarrassment for MLS?

Shaka Hislop believes Inter Miami request to execute astatine the Club World Cup to debar an "embarrassment" for the MLS.

Ferguson said FIFA drafted an wholly caller plan erstwhile considering the logistics of the 2025 Club World Cup due to the fact that his squad faced challenges antecedently unseen astatine immoderate different FIFA tournament.

"Using NFL stadiums with artificial turf, it's astir apt the 1 country that sets it isolated from erstwhile editions," Ferguson said. "For a mean World Cup, we bash modular transportation profiles and successful soccer-specific stadiums, truthful it would beryllium comparatively straightforward. We commencement gathering those a twelvemonth retired to beryllium acceptable for the tournament. Here, it's wholly different. That's wherefore we upscaled the probe heading retired of Qatar."

FIFA requires earthy grass for its premier tournaments, truthful determination is nary prime but to find a mode to person each stadium's playing surface. Ferguson and his squad instrumentality into information the layout of each stadium, personalizing the installation process of earthy writer to each of the fields to maximize potential.

For Copa America, CONMEBOL opted to make respective earthy writer overlays with a density of 25 millimeters to spell implicit the synthetic turf of each venue, and followed a docket to regenerate the fields successful the aboriginal rounds of the tourney conscionable days earlier kickoff. The speedy turnaround and sectioned overlays inspired astir of the complaints from participants, though FIFA insists it volition not instrumentality the aforesaid approach.

"We knew immoderate impermanent overlay earlier hadn't worked 100 percent, and we were going to request it for a longer play of time," Ferguson said.

A caller mode of bringing writer to the fields of a World Cup

If the Club World Cup, and aboriginal the 2026 World Cup, are going to destruct the transportation problems of Copa America, FIFA volition request to debut caller strategies to mitigate the clime and tract conditions successful the U.S.

Rather than swap retired fields arsenic the tourney goes, FIFA is choosing to instrumentality 1 transportation astatine each venue for the full tournament, and astatine immoderate stadiums the fields volition beryllium installed up to 2 months successful advance. (FIFA would not elaborate connected which venues were connected the earlier installation schedule.)

With overlays ruled retired for each the reasons that drew complaints during Copa America, FIFA has devised "shallow pitches" to regenerate the synthetic basal entirely. Ferguson said they tin beryllium utilized for 60 days without needing to beryllium replaced, featuring a hybrid weaving of existent and artificial writer that volition beryllium chopped into strips 4 feet wide and 45 feet agelong earlier being hydraulically pressed together. That volition past beryllium connected apical of a drainage furniture that allows moisture and aerial nether the roots of the writer -- the earthy writer tin get h2o arsenic needed but it won't get over-watered. The effect is simply a tract that feels similar earthy writer but is temporary.

FIFA began investigating this strategy during Nations League matches successful March, having the U.S. men's nationalist squad play connected that benignant of transportation erstwhile facing Panama and Canada astatine SoFi Stadium.

USMNT midfielder Timothy Weah labeled the transportation "different," saying players indispensable turn accustomed to the caller crushed earlier the World Cup arrives.

"It was interesting," Weah said. "I deliberation it's thing we request to get utilized to if we're going to beryllium playing connected it successful the World Cup, and we conscionable person to proceed getting games connected it. But it was beauteous decent.

"For maine it was a heavier pitch. So heavier transportation means aft games you get that accent connected the body, but thing that we were each conscionable going to person to get utilized to and play connected it more."

Forward Patrick Agyemang "didn't truly person galore complaints astir it," portion guardant Jack McGlynn "thought it was beauteous bully ... beauteous slick" and said helium had "no complaints." FIFA and Ferguson's squad were capable to ticker players and the shot interact with the shallow transportation successful existent clip successful bid to set accordingly from what they learned.

"We've had assorted trials that allowed america to marque coagulated decisions, to spot however the venue and players respond to these solutions," Ferguson said. "It remains a peculiar challenge, precise unique, ne'er been done earlier but determination is collaboration. If we were to present tomorrow, I'd beryllium assured successful the delivery."

The attack to the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup volition somewhat alteration arsenic the 2 diagnostic antithetic logistical challenges, but Ferguson and his squad volition usage the 32-club contention to set each facet of the writer for the planetary stage.

With 2 revolutionary formats changing the scope of the Club World Cup and World Cup, FIFA volition desperately effort to debar the bequest of pitch-related incidents done antithetic methodologies regarding writer and a caller attack to fields.