World Cup Concerns: Rabiot Criticizes MetLife Stadium Turf

Adrien Rabiot left New Jersey with three points, an assist and a warning.

France opened their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Tuesday, but the Juventus midfielder walked off the MetLife pitch shaking his head at a surface he felt belonged to another sport.

“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,” the 31-year-old said after playing the full match and setting up Bradley Barcola for France’s second goal.

For a venue that will stage the World Cup final on 19 July and England’s last group game against Panama on 27 June, those words will sting.

A World Cup on a converted gridiron

MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, is no stranger to criticism. Its artificial turf has long carried an ominous reputation in the NFL, blamed for a string of serious injuries that helped coin the phrase “MetLife curse”.

Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers was the latest high-profile casualty, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament there in September. That history is part of the reason a temporary grass pitch now sits on top of the usual synthetic field for the World Cup.

On paper, the fix should reassure the world’s best footballers. In practice, it is doing anything but.

The 78,576-capacity arena hosted France’s opener on a newly laid surface, one of eight temporary grass pitches installed across 16 host venues. Yet the complaints are already stacking up.

Rabiot’s frustration followed similar concerns from Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, who struggled on the same type of temporary turf in his side’s 1-1 draw with Morocco in their opening match.

“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.

Different stadium, same problem: grass laid in a hurry, baking under summer heat, losing the moisture that allows quick feet and sharp passing to shine.

Rhythm versus risk

France still found enough fluency to ease past Senegal, but the tone of the post-match conversation underlined a growing tension at this World Cup: spectacle versus safety, rhythm versus risk.

Players who rely on sharp changes of direction and quick combinations feel every bump and every rigid patch. On a surface that “felt more like an artificial” one, as Rabiot put it, the fear is not just about the quality of football but the toll on bodies expected to go deep into the tournament.

The issue stretches far beyond New Jersey. Boston Stadium, where Scotland opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Haiti last week, is also using a temporary grass pitch. It will host Scotland again on Friday when they face Morocco in their second Group C match (23:00 BST), another test of how these surfaces hold up under repeated use.

Back in New Jersey, the schedule is relentless. Senegal return to MetLife to face Norway on 22 June, the next in a line of fixtures that will churn the newly laid grass before England and, ultimately, the finalists arrive.

The stadium has already seen what happens when elite athletes meet compromised footing in another code. The question now is whether football’s showpiece event can avoid its own version of the MetLife curse on a stage that is supposed to crown the world champions.