FIFA requirements include a playing field larger field than an NFL one, plus five meters of runoff space around the entirety of the fieldMetLife Stadium
Work is underway at MetLife Stadium to get the 82,500-seat stadium ready for 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup hosting, including the tournament’s final.
The work will take place in two phases running from January to mid-May in 2024 and 2025 and focuses on removing permanent seating in the stadium’s lower bowl corners, as well as installing necessary infrastructure to support a natural grass playing surface specifically for the tournament.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority oversees the stadium, including this World Cup-related renovation project that will make just shy of 2,000 seats removable. The Authority received $30m in public funding to plan a World Cup renovation project in 2022, though the project’s price tag hasn’t been fully detailed yet. Design firm EwingCole and contractor Skanska, which partnered to deliver the stadium in 2010, are again teaming up to ready the venue for the World Cup.
FIFA requirements include a playing field larger field than an NFL one, plus five meters of runoff space around the entirety of the field. EwingCole was retained in the fall of 2020 to begin planning the alterations that would be needed for World Cup-hosting in a stadium specifically built with NFL sightlines in mind.
“It’s no easy task. The whole seating bowl is made of pre-cast concrete and steel,” said EwingCole Managing Principal Craig Schmitt, who also worked on MetLife’s initial design. “The Jets and Giants didn’t want to lose any of those seats permanently because those are season ticket holders.”
Seats in the stadium's four corners will be removed over the two phases -- one sideline each year -- and replaced with lightweight plate steel tiered seating sections manufactured by SPS Technology that can be removed from the lower bowl for soccer matches.
NFL fans sitting in those seats will never know the difference, Schmitt said. This year’s work was briefly stalled when MetLife Stadium was awarded Stadium Series hosting rights by the NHL. Workers, who had already ripped out 500 seats, covered the missing seats with advertising tarps so no one would notice during the two recent hockey games.
The other major work involves installation of infrastructure required to support a natural grass playing surface for World Cup matches (MetLife Stadium events are otherwise held on synthetic turf). Grass requires sprinkler systems, backup water tanks to support irrigation in case of municipal water system failure, and a vacuum and ventilation system designed to suck water out of the field in case of torrential rain or heat the grass for growth during colder weather. STRI, which was FIFA’s playing surface advisor for the Qatar World Cup, is assisting with those efforts.
Besides the 2026 World Cup final, MetLife Stadium is hosting five group stage matches, one in the round of 32 and a round of 16 match. EwingCole completed the original Meadowlands sports complex masterplan in the mid-1960s and designed the Meadowlands Racetrack that opened in 1976. Besides MetLife Stadium, EwingCole was also the architect and MEP engineer of record for the Giants' Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority oversees the stadium, including this World Cup-related renovation project that will make just shy of 2,000 seats removable. The Authority received $30M in public funding to plan a World Cup renovation project in 2022, though the project’s price tag hasn’t been fully detailed yet.
