News Summary

• The 2026 World Cup will be played across 16 cities in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
• Each World Cup stadium requires roughly 84,000 to 87,000 square feet of sod.
• Researchers at the University of Tennessee and Michigan State University have spent years helping FIFA figure out how to make the pitch consistent in every stadium.
• Some World Cup grass will travel more than 1,200 miles in refrigerated trucks to each stadium's first match..
• The grass is grown differently before it ever reaches a stadium.
• Instead of growing directly in soil, the World Cup sod is cultivated on top of plastic.
• The barrier prevents roots from growing downward, forcing them to spread laterally.
• When crews harvest the grass, they peel it off the plastic instead of slicing through the roots.
• That means the root system stays intact, reducing stress on the plant and helping it establish quickly once it's laid onto the stadium's sand-based root zone.