France head coach Didier Deschamps has added his voice to the chorus of criticism for the pitch at MetLife Stadium, the venue for next month’s World Cup final.The 2018 champions, who lost to Argentina in the final of the 2022 tournament, beat Senegal 3-1 at MetLife on Tuesday but did not enjoy the playing surface.In a media conference ahead of Monday’s Group I match against Iraq in Philadelphia, Deschamps was asked if he was worried about the prospect of heavy rain for their second match of the tournament.“We have played in the heat (at MetLife) so, if there is some rain, good, because the grass will be faster and the quality will be better, much better than the one in New York,” he said, referring to the venue that FIFA is calling the New York New Jersey Stadium.“The pitch in New York was really tough — it took a lot out of the players’ muscles.”This is further than he was willing to go immediately after the Senegal match, when he initially said he was not sure how to answer a question about the pitch, before describing it as “a special surface — it’s different.”France midfielder Adrien Rabiot was a little less guarded, though, as he said it “seemed more like an artificial pitch … hard and rigid.”But it is not only the French who do not like the East Rutherford venue’s pitch.Speaking after the first of eight World Cup games the stadium is scheduled to host, the June 13 clash between Brazil and Morocco, Brazilian star Vinicius Junior said: “Because of the weather and the heat, the grass dries out quickly and the game ends up being very slow.“We can’t build up a rhythm. That makes things difficult because…we want to move the ball from one side to the other and this disrupts our game.“But we will have to adapt because I believe it will be like this all tournament.”Norway and Senegal are the next teams to play on the surface on Monday, with five more games to follow, including Panama-England next Saturday and the final on July 19.Shared by the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants, the stadium’s usual playing surface is FieldTurf, an artificial turf. But when used for soccer, as it was during last summer’s Club World Cup, a natural grass pitch is grown elsewhere and then installed over the artificial surface.Erling Haaland and Norway are next up at MetLife when they face Senegal on Monday. (Jussi Eskola/Soccrates/Getty Images)However, this is not the first grass pitch at the MetLife that has been criticised, as several coaches at the Club World Cup also thought it was not good enough.And there have also been negative remarks about the World Cup pitch’s appearance, with several observers saying it has looked worn and patchy.But FIFA has defended the pitch and its installation process.In a statement given to The Athletic this week, it said: “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 surface for all players.“The pitches at all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums remain in excellent condition from both a playability and player-safety perspective.”Some, however, will say that MetLife’s pitch is the least of its problems, as it is widely considered to be one of the NFL’s most unpopular stadiums, due to its boring location, drab design and inaccessibility.FIFA, on the other hand, likes its capacity of 82,500 and its proximity to New York City, the biggest media market in the U.S. and the most attractive timezone for the world’s most-watched event.Jun 22, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms