SoFi testing 'hybrid' pitch ahead of '26 World Cup

SoFi Stadium will debut new grass field technology for Concacaf Nations League games next week as a test run for World Cup 2026, the Los Angeles World Cup host committee announced Thursday.

"This is really a great opportunity for us to put together and test and learn and then apply those learnings to next year and really create an incredible experience," Otto Benedict, SoFi's senior vice president of facilities and campus operations, said at a news conference.

SoFi Stadium will host the United States against Panama and Mexico vs. Canada on March 20 in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals as well as the final on March 23.

Stadium staff began installing the "hybrid carpet" made of both artificial turf and natural grass in February. It consists of multiple layers -- a grass-growing system called "the permavoid," a thin piece of permeable cloth, sand and finally the hybrid grass -- built on top of the existing artificial turf used by the stadium's two NFL teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers:

Made of black plastic crates, the permavoid allows air to move underneath the root structure of the field.

"We are truly the first that's doing that," Benedict told ESPN. "We can aerate the root zone and give oxygen to the bottom of the grass.

"If the field is too wet and the root zone is too wet, we can turn the machine on and it will suck air down through the grass to cool and dry the grass out."

The artificial turf mixed with the natural grass gives the pitch better strength and stability than a typical grass field because it will be less likely to pull apart, according to Benedict.

"You've got something that's more solid and essentially sewn in and the natural grass grows with it," he said. "In Europe, you have true sod on a sand base and grass that's growing and stays consistent."

"To me, it seems like grass," former U.S. men's national team star Cobi Jones told ESPN. "I'm trying to figure out where the 'hybrid' is. You can't even see it. It just looks like grass to me."

The quality of the pitches came under heavy criticism from players and coaches at last year's Copa América, which took place at many of the same NFL stadiums that will host the World Cup.

"You're playing on a football field, with laid grass that's all patchy and it breaks up every step you take. It's frustrating," USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie said after playing at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta last summer.

The grass at SoFi will be growing under a roof structure that doesn't receive direct sunlight, so the staff move LED grow lights across the field day and night.

Another 10,000 square feet of hybrid grass is growing in the SoFi parking lot that can be used to replace worn sections of the field.

"We want to test that and we also want to see what the grass is doing when it is in the sunlight versus what's in here artificially," Benedict said. "We're taking every opportunity to see what little nuance is happening."

The hybrid field requires a staff of more than 30 people -- double what NFL teams need to maintain their artificial turf field at SoFi.

The new hybrid field, which sits more than two feet higher than the NFL field because of the permavoid system, will be torn out following the USWNT's match against Brazil on April 5 to make way for concerts and the 2025 NFL season.

The field will be reinstalled beginning next April for the eight World Cup games SoFi is hosting, including the USMNT's opener on June 12.