我们为有史以来最大的世界杯设计了草坪——以下是我们如何在3个国家创造出相同的比赛体验
We designed the turf for soccer’s biggest World Cup eve…
The new playing fields are rolling out in stadiums from Mexico to Canada. Creating the perfect pitch in very different climates requires the right grasses and some creative tricks.
新的球场正在从墨西哥到加拿大等体育场推广。在气候差异很大的地方打造完美的球场，需要合适的草种和一些巧妙的技巧。
With 104 matches in 16 stadiums across Canada, the United States and Mexico, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be soccer’s biggest event ever.
在加拿大、美国和墨西哥的16个体育场馆将举行104场比赛，2026年世界杯将是足球史上最大的赛事。
It’s our job as turfgrass researchers hired by FIFA, the game’s governing body, to make sure those pitches feel the same for players and that the grass thrives.
作为由国际足联（FIFA）聘请的草坪研究人员，我们的工作是确保这些球场对球员来说感觉一致，并且草坪能够茁壮成长。
That’s not so simple. In fact, it seemed like an impossible challenge at first.
这可没那么简单。事实上，一开始这看起来像是一个不可能完成的挑战。
Picking the right turf
选择合适的草皮
The scale of this job was unprecedented: three distinct climatic zones, over 3,100 miles between the farthest stadiums, and venues ranging from stadiums open to the heat of Mexico City and Miami to enclosed NFL stadiums in Dallas and Atlanta, to the cooler climates of Boston and Toronto.
这项工作的规模是前所未有的：涵盖了三个不同的气候带，最远体育场之间相距超过3,100英里，场馆类型从墨西哥城和迈阿密等炎热的露天体育场，到达拉斯和亚特兰大的封闭式NFL体育场，再到波士顿和多伦多等气候凉爽的地区。
Despite the unique situations of each stadium, FIFA has a long list of rules for how the fields must be built. The grass has to be real but reinforced so it can handle a lot of games and ceremonies. Each field needs an automatic irrigation system, good drainage, built-in vacuum and vents to keep the grass and soil aerated, and artificial grow lights to keep the grass healthy.
尽管每个体育场的情况各不相同，但国际足联为球场建设制定了大量规则。草皮必须是天然草，但需要加固，以承受大量的比赛和仪式。每个球场都需要自动灌溉系统、良好的排水系统、内置的真空和通风系统以保持草和土壤的透气性，以及人工生长灯来保持草的健康。
Each host city is responsible for figuring out how to meet these requirements.
每个主办城市都负责找出如何满足这些要求。
Right now, eight of the 2026 host stadiums normally use artificial turf – how will they temporarily switch to real grass for the World Cup?
目前，2026年有八个主办体育场通常使用人造草皮——它们将如何为世界杯临时切换到天然草？
Even trickier, five of the stadiums have domes, which means the grass gets less sunlight. How can they keep the grass alive for eight weeks?
更棘手的是，五个体育场设有穹顶，这意味着草皮接受到的阳光较少。它们如何让草皮保持八周的存活？
How can we make sure that a player competing in Philadelphia has the same on‑field experience as a player competing in Guadalajara or Seattle?
我们如何确保在费城比赛的球员，与在瓜达拉哈拉或西雅图比赛的球员拥有相同的场上体验？
Our team at the University of Tennessee and Michigan State University has spent the past five years researching these questions to provide guidance to the host cities. Here, we’ll explore some of the most important questions we faced: which grass to grow, how it’s grown, how we plan to make it even stronger, and how to move it safely to each stadium.
我们在田纳西大学和密歇根州立大学的团队花了过去五年时间研究这些问题，为主办城市提供指导。在这里，我们将探讨我们面临的一些最重要的问题：应该种植哪种草，如何种植，我们计划如何使其更坚固，以及如何将其安全地运送到每个体育场。
Growing the grass
培育草皮
Typically, sod is grown on native soil. When harvested, the roots are cut, which shocks the plant and can delay root reestablishment for several weeks.
通常，草皮是在本地土壤上生长的。收割时，根系会被切断，这会给植物造成休克，并可能延迟根系的重建数周。
That wouldn’t work for the World Cup because games may take place within just 10 days of installation. If the roots can’t become established fast enough, the grass will be weaker and more prone to damage.
这对世界杯来说是行不通的，因为比赛可能在安装后的短短10天内举行。如果根系无法足够快地扎根，草皮就会更弱，更容易受损。
To address this, we decided to use sod grown on plastic with sand as a base.
为解决这个问题，我们决定使用以塑料和沙子为基底培育的草皮。
Think of it like growing grass in a plastic tray, but on a much larger scale. When the roots reach the plastic, they spread sideways and intertwine, forming a dense rooting system. Because the roots stay intact during harvest, the sod experiences minimal stress and can be ready to play almost immediately after installation.
您可以把它想象成在塑料托盘里种植草，但规模要大得多。当根系接触到塑料时，它们会横向蔓延并交织在一起，形成一个密集的根系。由于根系在收割过程中保持完好，草皮的应激极小，安装后几乎可以立即投入使用。
Sod for sports fields is typically grown in a base of sand to provide quick drainage and prevent the grass from getting compacted as the roots become established.
用于运动场的草皮通常以沙子为基底，以提供快速排水，并防止根系建立过程中草皮板结。
The problem is that growing grass in 2 inches of sand on a plastic sheet comes with risks. Because of the plastic, a single heavy rainfall while the grass is becoming established can wash the exposed sand away.
问题在于，在塑料片上用2英寸的沙子种植草皮存在风险。由于塑料的存在，在草皮正在建立的过程中，一次大雨可能会冲走裸露的沙子。
For warm‑season sod farmers – those that grow grass that thrives in high temperatures – sand washing away is less of a concern because the Bermudagrass they grow establishes quickly. On the other hand, cool‑season sod farmers usually grow Kentucky bluegrass, which germinates slowly compared to other turfgrass species, increasing the risk of washouts.
对于暖季草皮种植者——那些种植喜高温草皮的种植者——沙子冲刷的担忧较小，因为他们种植的佛罗里达草就能快速扎根。另一方面，冷季草皮种植者通常种植开绿草，与其它草坪草种相比，它发芽缓慢，增加了冲刷的风险。
We decided to mix a faster‑germinating species – perennial ryegrass – with Kentucky bluegrass grown on plastic and then tested various seeding ratios. We found that an 84% Kentucky bluegrass and 16% perennial ryegrass mixture produced a stronger sod than pure Kentucky bluegrass alone four months after seeding. Since 2025, these findings have been used on sod farms across North America, beyond those growing grass for the World Cup.
我们决定将一种发芽更快的物种——耐年草地黑麦草——与在塑料上种植的开绿草混合，并测试了各种播种比例。我们发现，在播种四个月后，84%的开绿草和16%的耐年草地黑麦草混合物形成的草皮比纯开绿草更坚固。自2025年以来，这些研究结果已应用于北美各地的草皮农场，范围超出了为世界杯种植草皮的农场。
Stabilizing the surface
稳定草坪表面
“One World Cup game is equal to a Super Bowl,” FIFA officials like to remind us. Since each field will host a lot of games and ceremonies, including up to nine games over six weeks, the fields need to be extremely strong.
“一场世界杯比赛相当于一场超级碗，”国际足联官员喜欢提醒我们。由于每个场地都要举办大量比赛和仪式，包括长达六周内的多达九场比赛，因此这些场地需要极其坚固。
To make them tougher, we mix plastic fibers into the natural grass, which creates a hybrid turfgrass system. As the grass grows, its roots wrap around these plastic fibers, which helps to keep the surface stable and firm. These fibers are also colored to match the natural grass, so even if the real grass wears down, they help the field stay green.
为了让它们更坚韧，我们将塑料纤维混入天然草中，从而创造出混合草坪系统。随着草的生长，其根系会缠绕这些塑料纤维，这有助于保持表面的稳定和坚实。这些纤维还被着色以匹配天然草的颜色，因此即使真草磨损，它们也能帮助场地保持绿色。
Hybrid turfgrass systems can be created in two ways: by stitching plastic fibers into an existing grass field or by laying down a carpet of plastic fibers that is then filled with sand and seeded to grow new grass.
混合草坪系统可以通过两种方式创建：是将塑料纤维缝合到现有的草地上，或者铺设一层塑料纤维地毯，然后用沙子填充并播种以培育新草。
Stitched systems have been used in World Cup games for a long time, but carpet systems are still fairly new to the tournament – they have been used only in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
缝合系统在世界杯比赛中使用了很长时间，但地毯系统对于本次赛事来说仍然相当新——它们只在2023年女子世界杯上使用过。
We tested eight carpet systems to see how they performed and found that all could be successfully grown on plastic. All the surface performance tests – ball bounce, rotational resistance and surface hardness – on these eight carpets also met FIFA standards.
我们测试了八种地毯系统，了解它们的性能，发现所有系统都能成功地在塑料上生长。这八块地毯在表面性能测试——包括球弹跳、旋转阻力和表面硬度——方面也符合国际足联的标准。
One type of carpet was chosen by three host cities for their stadiums: Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
有三种地毯系统被三座主办城市选用于其体育场馆：温哥华、洛杉矶和费城。
Getting the sod from farm to stadium
从农场到体育场的草皮运输
Most of the stadiums – 14 of them – will have sod that is grown on plastic, then rolled up and shipped to the venue during spring 2026. Some of the grasses won’t have to travel far, but some will be shipped in refrigerated trucks across the country. Since the sod remains fully intact after harvest, it can withstand long travel times.
大多数体育场馆——共14个——的草皮将在2026年春季在塑料上种植，然后卷起来运送到场馆。一些草种不需要远途跋涉，但有些则需要通过冷藏卡车运送全国各地。由于草皮在收获后保持完整，因此可以承受长途运输。
Five of those stadiums don’t get enough sunlight, so they will use cool-season grasses that require less light than warm-season grasses.
其中五个体育场馆日照不足，因此它们将使用比暖季草更耐阴的冷季草。
While the open-air stadium in Miami will use Bermudagrass, the domed stadium in Houston, despite being at a similar latitude, will use the Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass mix. That means cross-country trips from cool-season sod farms in Denver and Washington to domed stadiums in the southern regions is essential.
虽然迈阿密的露天体育场将使用美洲羊茅，但休斯顿的穹顶体育场，尽管纬度相似，仍将使用肯塔基蓝草和多年生黑麦草的混合物。这意味着从丹佛和华盛顿的冷季草皮农场到南部地区的穹顶体育场进行跨州运输是至关重要的。
It’s wild to think that this is all necessary, but the length of the tournament and unique stadium environments call for innovation.
想到这一切都是必要的，真是令人惊讶，但锦标赛的长度和独特的体育场环境要求创新。
The University of Tennessee was the prime awardee of the FIFA grant. Michigan State University is a subawardee. John N. Trey Rogers is the principal investigator for the Michigan State work.
田纳西大学是国际足联（FIFA）拨款的主要获得者。密歇根州立大学是次级获得者。约翰·N·特雷·罗杰斯是密歇根州立大学项目的首席研究员。
Jackie Lyn A. Guevara is affiliated with Michigan State University. She received compensation through a FIFA grant awarded to Michigan State University.
Jackie Lyn A. Guevara隶属于密歇根州立大学。她通过国际足联授予密歇根州立大学的一笔拨款获得了报酬。
John Sorochan is the principal investigator for the FIFA grant at the University of Tennessee.
John Sorochan是田纳西大学国际足联拨款的首席研究员。
Ryan Bearss works for Michigan State University
Ryan Bearss在密歇根州立大学工作。
