On the lawn: When the passion of the World Cup collides with the reality of artificial turf
On June 17th Beijing time, the first round of Group I of 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup kicked off at the Boston Stadium. Norway, which had returned to the World Cup after a 28-year absence, faced Iraq, which had made its return to the World Cup 40 years later. This contrasting match ended with Norway winning 4-1. In the 29th minute of the game, Norway scored first and took the lead; in the 39th minute, Iraq equalized with a header; but just four minutes later, Norway scored again, taking a 2-1 lead at halftime. In the 76th minute of the second half, Norway scored with a header from a corner kick to increase their advantage, and in the injury time, they scored another goal to seal the victory. This victory also broke the unbeaten record held by Asian teams in this tournament.
Behind this thrilling match, the quality of the grass has become an unavoidable topic on the 2026 World Cup field. Among the 16 stadiums for this World Cup, 8 have been using artificial turf for a long time, including the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. To meet the requirements of FIFA, these venues temporarily installed a natural grass system - essentially covering the existing artificial turf structure with temporary grass. However, the results were not satisfactory. A French midfielder stated that the field "feels more like artificial turf, being hard and stiff", and many players complained that the ball bounced around on the grass like on a trampoline. FIFA data shows that the MetLife Stadium, the venue for the final, was originally the home field of an NFL team and used artificial turf. The artificial turf at this venue gained a notorious reputation after many NFL players suffered serious injuries there. These controversies highlight the real dilemma faced by artificial turf in top-level football matches - the temporary switching solution is difficult to replicate the athletic experience of a truly natural grass field.
Although there have been continuous controversies over the artificial grass used in this World Cup, the future of artificial football grass is far from over. According to data, the global market for indoor and outdoor artificial football turf reached 20.5 billion yuan in 2025, and is expected to reach 35.86 billion yuan by 2032. The development of technology is driving artificial turf from being a "temporary substitute" to an "active innovation". The rubber-free artificial turf achieves international event-level sports performance such as 65.2% impact absorption and 13.4 millimeters of vertical deformation without the need for rubber particle filling through the three-dimensional irregular cross-section grass fiber technology. The mixed structure turf - approximately 90% to 95% natural grass and the remaining reinforced by synthetic fibers - is becoming a new direction that balances durability and sports experience. Data-driven field management systems can monitor the condition of the turf in real time. From NFL stadiums to community football fields, from recyclable materials to intelligent maintenance, artificial turf for football is breaking away from the single domain of "no filling", and evolving towards high performance, sustainability, and intelligence. Perhaps in the next World Cup, what we will see is no longer players complaining about the turf, but a real green pitch worthy of top-level events.
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