'Perfect recipe for a perfect pitch': FIFA installs World Cup grass at Los Angeles Stadium

Workers began installing 13 truckloads of official grass for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday (May 13) at Los Angeles Stadium, also known as SoFi Stadium, in Inglewood, California, after FIFA officials selected cold-weather turf grown at the Desert Green Turf farm in Washington state following more than three years of research.

The stadium, home to NFL teams, normally uses an artificial surface and had to be modified for the World Cup.

"We've come in and put in a temporary overlay. Sod, sand, drainage layer, vacuum ventilation," said David Graham, FIFA's senior pitch manager of stadiums. "So put all that together, you should have a perfect recipe for a perfect pitch."

Maintenance rules for the grass will vary from stadium to stadium depending on each region's temperature, but Graham said all the turf has been studied to ensure uniform performance throughout the games.

“The workers are a bit like fairies. People don't see the work happening and then they’re the first people in and the last people to leave. So it's quite meticulous. But you see it in its ideal state when the referee blows his whistle,” said Graham.

-Elizabeth Mendez and Matt Silverstein/Reuters