As soon as the final player walked off the MetLife Stadium pitch after France’s 3-1 win against Senegal on June 16, the field maintenance crew streamed past them.Like a well-oiled machine, one by one, workers walked the length of the grass field, examining every inch. They smoothed out certain areas, while stomping firmly on others. They tended to the playing surface with rakes and used large equipment to aerate and mow the lawn. Two women walking the field appeared to measure the grass’s length, jotting their notes down on clipboards. Orange and green flags were placed along the seams of the field.While the 80,545 fans were departing, the attention of the pitch maintenance team had already turned to the next match — Norway vs Senegal on June 22.This is a side of the World Cup that fans won’t see this summer but it is an hugely important one, particularly in the case of MetLife, which hosts the final in four weeks (July 19).With two matches played there, and six more to come including the final, the condition of the playing surface is already raising concerns. High-profile players such as Brazil star Vinicius Junior and France’s Adrien Rabiot described the pitch as dry and difficult to play on, while Rabiot’s coach Didier Deschamps said it was “special”. He didn’t mean it in a good way.FIFA, though, has come out in strong support of the condition of not just the pitch at MetLife but the condition of all 16 of the fields used for this tournament, saying they are in “excellent” condition.“FIFA has invested more than five years in meticulous and collaborative research, testing and innovation, working closely with leading turf experts, stadium operators and football stakeholders, to deliver the best possible playing surfaces for players,” the governing body said in a statement to The Athletic. “The pitches at all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums remain in excellent condition from both a playability and player safety perspective.”There was also a fair amount of criticism of the MetLife pitch on social media from people watching the France-Senegal game at home.“While there have been comments regarding the visual appearance of certain areas of the playing surface at NYNJ Stadium, FIFA’s Turf Management Team’s assessment is that every pitch is healthy and performing as intended for elite competition,” said the statement from FIFA. “Variations in the appearance of some surfaces, whether on television or in person, do not necessarily reflect the quality, health or playability of the pitch.”