For the three nations set to co-host the 2026 World Cup – the United States, Mexico and Canada – this summer’s Copa América, held in the US, provided a timely test of their ability to compete at their home tournament in two years.
The results were mixed. The US and Mexico crashed out in the group stage, while Canada made it all the way to the semi-finals, losing to the eventual champions, Argentina.
It wasn’t only the host nations’ on-field preparedness that was scrutinized at the Copa, though. For the United States, the staging of a major international tournament was a test of its soccer infrastructure. And the resultant failures will prove just as concerning as the USMNT’s early exit.
Security inadequacies were cited for two scenes that marred the tournament’s latter stages. First, when Uruguay players clashed with Colombia fans in the stands after their semi-final in Charlotte, North Carolina; and then when kick-off for the final at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday was delayed by 82 minutes due to fans rushing the arena.
In fairness, much of the blame can be laid at the feet of Conmebol, South American soccer’s governing body, which was responsible for running this year’s Copa. But one aspect that should be a concern in the runup to 2026, is the playing conditions in US stadiums themselves. From the moment the tournament began on 20 June right through until the final this past weekend, the state of the pitches at the Copa has been a sour talking point.
Reigning World Cup champions Argentina faced Canada in the competition’s opening game. With Lionel Messi on show and Jesse Marsch’s Canadian side producing a surprisingly competitive performance despite a 2-0 loss, the Copa’s curtain-raiser ought to have been an entertaining start to the tournament. Yet the condition of the pitch at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium dominated post-match discourse.
“They knew seven months ago that we’d play here and they changed the field two days ago,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni raged after the game. “It’s not an excuse, but this isn’t a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these kinds of players. We gave not necessarily a good game, but a game according to the pitch and what the opponent proposed. We couldn’t do much more with the conditions of the pitch. Look at the speed of the passes that we did.”
Back in December, Conmebol publicly confirmed the 14 host stadiums for this summer’s tournament. But behind the scenes work had begun to ensure each venue’s readiness as far back as June 2023. With a mixture of NFL stadiums, soccer-specific MLS venues and hybrid arenas selected, ensuring a uniformity of the playing surfaces was a primary concern.
Eight months prior to the tournament, it was decided that the pitch dimensions would be standardized across all host venues. Each arena was ordered to conform to a field size of 100m x 64m – which is at the very smallest end of the range recommended by Fifa.
The stadiums that housed an artificial turf field had to overlay their surface with real grass, conforming to a depth of 25mm consistent with all venues selected for the Copa. In a further effort to aid uniformity, natural grass panels produced using the same technology were to be installed.
But the process of overlaying the real grass in Atlanta began just three days before the opening game. Visible issues with the playing surface were not only an issue there, either. Throughout the tournament, coaches and players railed against the substandard pitches.
“The Copa América is always difficult because of the pitches, because of the referees who always go against us,” Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior said during the group phase. “It’s always difficult, but we have to stay strong. We can only talk by winning. When we talk, Conmebol says we talk too much.”
Amid growing concerns over match quality and player safety, Conmebol insisted that the Copa pitches had all been robustly tested and were worthy of high-level play (complaints about playing surfaces were also a storyline at Euro 2024). Specific concerns over the state of the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Arena were dismissed. “The grass in Atlanta posed absolutely no threat,” said Federico Nantes, Conmebol’s director of competitions, after the pitch was tested prior to the USMNT’s loss to Panama. “All the tests came out sufficient. I think the aesthetic of the field was what posed a problem for the players. They care a lot about aesthetics.”
But concerns didn’t go away. And after the brawl that erupted following Uruguay’s defeat to Colombia in the semi-finals, the organizers found their most ardent critic. Before his side’s third-place play-off with Canada, Marcelo Bielsa, Uruguay’s Argentinian manager, launched a scathing attack on Conmebol for what he deemed a failure to protect the players and their families, before then taking aim at the quality of pitches.
“All of the lies that they’ve told,” Bielsa said. “They do press conferences and say, ‘No, the fields are perfect, the training pitches are perfect.’ I have all the photos that show that these are all lies. This is a plague of liars. Now, I’ve already said everything I promised [the organizers and the federation] I wouldn’t say. These are all punishments coming.
“These are all errors that were known beforehand. The North Americans don’t say, ‘You’re going to get a perfect pitch.’ They tell you, ‘We’ll give you a field installed three days ago … The training pitches were a disaster.
“They do a press conference and say it’s an optical illusion. Vinícius can’t see. That Scaloni shouldn’t talk. That the training pitches are all perfect when we all have a collection of the [bad pitches].”
Eight of the 14 venues used for the 2024 Copa América will be employed once again for the 2026 World Cup, including those with artificial turf. Fifa will insist on a different protocol, however, with artificial turf venues instructed to install a hybrid surface that combines natural grass with a small percentage of artificial fibres. This, Fifa believes, will aid a greater degree of uniformity among the pitches.
But the Copa América exemplified just how difficult it can be to find uniformity across stadiums designed for different sports, built to varying dimensions and existing within different climates.
As the United States prepares to host World Cup matches for the first time in more than three decades, a solution to the pitch problem is as essential as fixing the USMNT’s deficiencies if embarrassment before the eyes of the world is to be avoided.
