“This is great, but 2026 will be huge”

History belongs to you “says a poster at the top of the costumes of the New York Jets. A phrase that does not seem written at random. Because in that same place, where every Sunday the NFL players are mentalized for battle, Real Madrid will be changed before playing a historical semifinal of the Club World Cup in front of the PSG. The stage: the imposing MetLife Stadium New Jersey.

This event is not a test, it is the best club World Cup that has ever been made

Luis Castro, NYNJ Match Director

It is no accident that FIFA You have chosen this stadium to house the final phase of the tournament. With capacity for more than 82,000 viewersthe metlife is One of the most modern and multifunctional stages in the world. Usual headquarters of NFL matches and mass events such as concerts of Taylor Swift o WrestleManiait has been adapted to the slightest detail to receive elite football with the solemnity it deserves. “This is great, but 2026 will be huge,” they tell MARKthat has had full access to the stadium where the semifinals and the final of the Club World Cup will be held to know with great detail How FIFA has prepared a scenario that promises to be unsurpassed. “This event is not a test, it is the best club World Cup that has been made. We are happy to have the opportunity to experience what is going to happen next year, but we are not trying anything“Asegura Luis Castro, Nynj Match Director.

The secrets of the lawn

First it was the pitch. The stadium, accustomed to the artificial tapestry, had to get rid of your usual base to install a natural-synthetic hybrid grass approved by the demanding FIFA standards. It was not enough to look green. He had to behave as in the Bernabéu or the Park of the Princes: fast, uniform, clean. “The lawn is Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass. It is a cis surface, which means that F hasIbras woven in it that gives them more resistance and stability“, account Blair Christensen, NYNJ Pitch Venue Manager.

It was necessary to import special machinery to install a new system that could control the subsoil temperature To guarantee a perfect surface. “We have a lot of performance characteristics that we try daily. We tried this surface and try to reach all game parameters to enjoy, “explains about the solution they have put to avoid the complaints of the players to the uniform boats of the ball during the meetings. “The emptiness below exists and there are three levels: an aluminum floor, a permeable vacuum that is the rain cell and a geotextile level”he explains about the elaborate process that has had operators and technicians working for months in a total transformation.

“I would have liked to play at 9pm to have more rhythm in the game because It shows that the parties of the 15h the ball does not roll so fast and the effort is double“, explains Courtois before the semifinal on a schedule that harms both teams. A grass change that will improve conditions after bringing from tuckahoe Turf Farmsin New Jersey, a pitch that responds better. “Transported in refrigerated trucks from a farm that is at an hour and a half of the stadium”they tell.

54 lockers, 4 vor rooms and a unique retransmission

Then came the changing rooms. The spaces were redesigned to adapt them to the UEFA protocol. “We started eight hours before the game to ensure that the teams have the highest, world -class experience”They tell brand. Facilities that will allow the four teams that have reached the semifinals to enjoy a unique experience. The Madrid wardrobe and their 54 ticket offices have touched the Madridmore than enough to cover the first team and Castile. In addition, they can enjoy A recovery/bandage room with up to 8 stretchers, a jacuzzi and the possibility of contrast baths, bicycles to get into rhythm and two different tunnels: one where the 11th and one comes out of the substitutes.

The Metlife thus becomes a symbol of that ambition: a giant who mutates, who learns a new language, that reinvents himself. FIFA knows. That's why he chose him. Not only for its capacity or its location, but for its versatility, for its history as a scenario of global events and for its potential as a sports icon of the future. “I can compare this field with two fields in Cincinnati and Atlanta. The quality of the grass is different from that of other stadiums. Here you can play golf. It is very short. This is not the type of grass that we are used to playing in the Bundesliga, “he confessed Niko Kovac before the match against Madrid in the quarterfinals ..

He Metlife Stadium You will have three more tests by house the two semifinals and the final of the Club World Cup. Today he will receive Fluminense and Chelsea, while a day later to Real Madrid and PSG, before Sunday receiving the finalists. But what is yet to come is even more impressive. “This is great, but 2026 will be huge”They tell Mark while teaching the part where magic happens with several ships for television broadcasts, four vor rooms, a mega room to organize everything … and a point that surprised everyone. “The camera that carries the referee is not our thing, it is a topic of control of his for arbitration”they say.