The World Cup in 2026 has fielded ample debate on using turf or natural grass, with FIFA mandating the latter’s use at the tournament. For many worldwide venues, having natural grass is not a challenge. Yet, each of the venues in the United States that is hosting games for the 2026 World Cup is an NFL stadium. Over half of the stadiums total use artificial turf, not real grass. In step the University of Tennessee and Michigan State University.

FIFA has partnered with those two American colleges to research and cultivate the grass to feature at each of the 16 World Cup stadiums in 2026. The governing body of the sport globally has helped UT and MSU work on developing grass that is suitable for different climates. Also, the grass must be able to grow indoors. Eight of the 16 venues in action for the World Cup are in fully enclosed or partially enclosed stadiums. These domed stadiums will use growth lights as opposed to natural lights, which presents some inherent challenges to the quality of the grass.

FIFA requires standardized turf. Consequently, teams traveling around different parts of North America can at least have consistent grass to play on. Alan Ferguson, FIFA’s senior pitch management manager, said having that consistency is difficult.

“We’ve got stadiums in Mexico, U.S. and Canada, so probably the most diverse tournament footprint ever. I think that’s pretty safe to say,” Ferguson said. “And it comes with a special set of challenges.”

Among those challenges, University of Tennessee and Michigan State University researchers have collected data points from each of the 16 stadiums. That includes identifying which grass types work best a high altitudes like Mexico City versus low altitudes like Miami, FL.