Eleven NFL stadiums have been reshaped for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with American football venues adding natural grass, widening playing surfaces and removing seats so they can stage soccer matches this summer.
World Cup Pitches Need More Than A Paint Job
ESPN reported that the conversion is not cosmetic. An NFL field is 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide, while FIFA requires World Cup pitches of 105 meters by 68 meters, or 114.8 yards by 74.4 yards.
That width difference is where the work begins. Several venues have had to adjust lower-bowl seating, field levels and temporary infrastructure to fit a full soccer surface. The World Cup also requires matches to be played on natural grass, which has meant replacing or covering artificial turf at multiple NFL homes.
For fields usually built around hash marks and yard lines, the assignment is blunt: become a proper soccer venue, and do it under global inspection.
Dallas, Houston And Kansas City Make Major Changes
Dallas Stadium, the NFL home of the Cowboys, has had one of the more dramatic conversions. ESPN cited local reporting that the playing surface was raised by four feet using 15,000 tons of material, with Colorado-grown grass installed for the tournament.
Houston Stadium is also using a ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass surface. ESPN reported that grass rolls arriving there can measure up to 50 feet long and weigh between 1,800 and 2,000 pounds, requiring specialized equipment and a full-time grounds crew to maintain the field.
Kansas City Stadium already had grass, but it still resodded the surface with Bermuda grass and installed an air system beneath the field. ESPN reported that 3,500 seats were removed to make room for the soccer pitch.
Seattle And MetLife Show The Scale Of The Work
Seattle Stadium required a reported $19.4 million investment covering field installation, infrastructure, security and transportation, according to ESPN's summary of local reporting. Nearly a foot of sand was placed over the artificial turf before a ryegrass-Kentucky bluegrass surface was installed.
New York New Jersey Stadium, which will host the July 19 final, is using Bermuda grass and a layered field system involving sand, permeable cloth and ventilation. ESPN cited an Associated Press report that 1,740 seats were removed from the corners to fit the full soccer surface.
The result is a tournament detail fans may barely notice if everything works. That is usually the point of good venue work: millions see the match, while the engineering disappears under the grass.