World Cup Players Are Having Issues With MetLife Stadium, Too
MetLife Stadium (or "New York New Jersey Stadium" if you're FIFA compliant) has already hosted several World Cup games and is set to host several more, including the Final. But judging from the responses of some players who have been there so far, they're not looking forward to going back.
Despite installing temporary grass fields at the East Rutherford stadium for the World Cup, the players who have had to experience it are not grading it well at all.
In an interview with BBC after France beat Senegal at MetLife on Tuesday, French midfielder Adrien Rabiot said that the field was "quite hard and quite rigid" and felt more to him like an artificial surface.
"The pitch... I don't even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface - quite hard and quite rigid," Rabiot said.
Brazil, who on Saturday were held to a 1-1 draw with Morocco, also played at MetLife. Star forward Vinicius Junior also had complaints, pointing out that the heat caused the field to dry out, causing the game to become "very sluggish" and kept them from getting into a rhythm.
"In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish, and we can't get into our rhythm," Vinicius said.
"DeathLife Stadium"
MetLife Stadium has been getting criticized for the state of its field conditions for over five years now. Yahoo Fantasy Sports noted in September 2025 that at least eight well-known players suffered Achilles or ACL injuries while playing there.
But it was Odell Beckham Jr. who popularized the term "DeathLife" Stadium in referring to how bad the turf is. In a pair of posts made on X in September, he lamented that "too many talented players" have suffered greatly playing on that surface.
"Dear @NFL , I mean this with the upmost love and respect. We (The NFL) take all The precautions in the world with EVERYthing else when it comes to players "health" and "safety". PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE 🤬 TURF. Thank You in advance. LUV," OBJ wrote.
"Respect and u kno I loveeeee the giants , but DeathLife has taken too many talented players away from the game. I kno it's not ALL the turfs fault but at least maybe it to where we've gotten all research done to if TURF has to stay it's at the HIGHEST of quality possible. At least can we start the discussion."
MetLife Stadium might be pushed into making the change to grass sometime in the near future. As for the present World Cup tournament, it's beginning to feel like a big-time injury could be on the horizon if the conditions are as bad as the players describe.
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