Day 68:41The pitch is perfect: Meet the Canadian who helped develop the turf for all 16 World Cup pitches
When Australian goalkeeper Patrick Beach walked off the pitch after the first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver, it wasn’t the crowd or the atmosphere that caught his attention – it was the grass.
“The field was at a high level tonight, especially when it was nice and wet. The ball was rolling very well,” he said. he told the Canadian Press after the match against Turkey on June 14.
“When we got there and checked out the stadium … everyone was talking, they loved it, they thought it was cool.”
When John Sorochan heard that, he was very happy, because it took years of intensive research and testing to fix FIFA. Sorochan and his team oversee the installation and maintenance of the grass fields at all 16 World Cup stadiums, located in three countries.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of sweat and tears, a lot of sleepless nights that went into this,” Sorochan, a University of Tennessee professor emeritus who was born in Calgary, said. Day 6 hosted by Brent Bambury.
A powerful test
Sorochan was contacted by Alan Ferguson, the chief executive of FIFA, who gave him the task of developing World Cup stadiums with tea and biscuits in London.
Sorochan agreed, and he and his team at the University of Tennessee partnered with Michigan State University to take on a major project, which has spanned the past five years.
First, the researchers studied the impact and force of the ball as it hits the turf, to ensure that the pitch is correct.
“What we wanted was for the ball not to jump too high, or too low,” said Sorochan.
To do that, they used a training machine that is often used by goalkeepers to practice saving. Instead they use it to launch angle balls into the grass, with high-speed cameras and radar detectors that measure the speed and angle at which the ball hits the grass, as well as the speed and angle after the bounce.
They also developed a machine with a 3D printed foot, fitted with a cleat, to test how the turf would handle the players’ running and cutting. Additionally, it measured how a 172-kilogram soccer player – the average weight of World Cup athletes from the last two events – would feel running on the field.
They conducted this experiment in different conditions, with grass cut at different altitudes.
Sixteen stadiums across North America will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and all of them need perfect grass. Nationally, CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe breaks down the science of high-tech soy and talks to the Canadian behind it all.
Grass caters to the unique needs of the field
All this was done in the name of consistency, because this world cup – hosted by Canada, the US, and Mexico – came with an added challenge. There is a big difference between what kind of grass is needed for an indoor stadium in one part of the continent, and an outdoor stadium in another, but they should all feel the same.
Sorochan says indoor sports fields are made from a mixture of 70 percent Kentucky bluegrass and 30 percent ryegrass, which is commonly used for homes, cemeteries and sports fields. Meanwhile the outdoor stadium in Miami, for example, needs Bermuda grass.
Those types of grass need to be managed differently, and mowed at different heights. And it’s important that they get it right, Sorochan said.
“We want to make sure that if the team plays in Miami and then goes up to Boston or Toronto to play, we want to make sure that the football will do the same as if it were in the same fields.”
Some of the sod, including the sod at BC Place Vancouver, is grown in BC, by Bos Sod Farms in Abbotsford.
Careful maintenance plan
Now the fields are out of Sorochan’s hands. Each stadium, such as BC Place Vancouver and Toronto Stadium, has a team responsible for managing the turf.
It requires special irrigation, a UV light system, and up to 50 people working to maintain it.
“I think when people look at this grass sand they say, ‘Oh, it’s just grass.’ But it’s more than just grass,” Tony Valante, head of infrastructure at BC Place Vancouver, told CBC News.
The field was installed with a built-in vacuum system that controls humidity. Between games, the maintenance crew is busy mowing, repairing and watering the field. At BC Place, they also install lights, as the grass doesn’t get natural sunlight.
And as the games continue, with others now holding the lawn, Sorochan can – for the most part – sit back and listen to the compliments of some of the best footballers in the world.
“If [players] talk about the field, usually it’s because they slip or something goes wrong,” said Sorochan.
“But so far in this World Cup, we’ve heard people say that’s the best place they’ve ever played in … it makes me sad.”
