World Cup history will be made on this grass. These scientists have spent decades perfecting it

The hexagon module was one of the team’s greatest innovations. Grass roots can be left intact while sections of turf are moved to the dome. The domed stadium will feature a natural grass pitch for the first time on top of the artificial pitch.

When Rodgers saw a team enter the dome for their first practice, they didn’t inspect the pitch. Apparently, it felt natural to them. Like little boys, they tried to push footballs high enough to reach the roof of the gargantuan dome. Rogers considered the project a success. This would earn him a nickname: “The Master of Grass”.

But at the end of the 1994 World Cup, Sorochan climbed to the top of the dome and looked down on the pitch.

“You see wear and tear on the field,” Sorochon said. “I thought, wow, how can we make this better?” Sorochon spent the rest of his time as a graduate student researching how to grow grass indoors.

And when FIFA approached Sorochan in 2018 about helping with the 2026 World Cup, he asked Rodgers and MSU to join him. Their work on the Silverdome in 1994 seemed like a child’s science fair project.

Sea kelp and silica

Generally, sod is grown as locally as possible to the soil where it will be placed. Cutting and moving turf can stress plants, and they often need several weeks to recover.

At the World Cup, however, many pitches will be laid just 10 days before their first match.

Joe Wilkins III’s sprawling sod farm out of Denver, Colorado, USA is responsible for World Cup pitches in Dallas, Atlanta and Houston. These three stadiums will host more than a quarter of the tournament between them. D All stadiums the domeWhere direct sunlight does not reach the pitch.

“They’re the biggest challenge,” said Wilkins, whose grandfather founded the Green Valley Turf Company in 1962.