Rabiot Critiques MetLife Stadium Pitch After France's Win Over Senegal

Adrien Rabiot walked off with a win, but not with much praise for the stage it was played on.

France opened their World Cup campaign with a controlled 3-1 victory over Senegal at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Tuesday, yet the conversation afterwards quickly veered away from tactics and goals and straight onto the grass – or what is supposed to pass for it.

“I don’t even know if you can call it that”

Rabiot, 31, played every minute in New Jersey, knitting France’s midfield together and setting up Bradley Barcola for Les Bleus’ second goal. Once the job was done, he turned his fire on the surface at MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

“The pitch... I don’t even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface - quite hard and quite rigid,” he said, summing up what many players have been muttering since the tournament began.

The stadium is using a temporary grass pitch laid over its usual artificial turf, one of eight such installations across 16 World Cup venues. On paper, it ticks the box: natural grass for football’s biggest stage. In reality, the players are feeling every seam and every bounce.

Rabiot is not alone. Brazil’s Vinicius Junior left the same ground frustrated after a 1-1 draw with Morocco in his side’s opener, pointing the finger at the conditions.

“In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish and we can't get into our rhythm,” the forward said. When a player built on acceleration and sharp changes of direction calls the surface sluggish, people listen.

A World Cup final on a surface under scrutiny

This is not just any venue. The 78,576-seat arena, widely known as MetLife Stadium, will host England’s final group game against Panama on 27 June. It is also scheduled to stage the World Cup final on 19 July. The biggest night in the sport may be played on a pitch that leading players are already questioning in the group stage.

The stakes are obvious. A poor surface can blunt technical sides, slow passing moves, and heighten the risk of injury. For a tournament built around fine margins, every bad bounce matters.

MetLife’s reputation does not start with football. Its artificial turf has long been a sore point in the NFL, where players and coaches have complained about its hardness and the way it grips studs. Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers tore his anterior cruciate ligament there in September, another high-profile casualty feeding the narrative of a ‘MetLife curse’.

Now, with a layer of grass laid on top, the stadium is trying to reinvent itself for a different sport and a global audience. The early reviews from the pitch’s most important critics are harsh.

Heat, dryness and a tournament-wide issue

The complaints also highlight a broader World Cup problem. Temporary grass surfaces have been installed at multiple American venues more used to hosting gridiron, concerts, and events than elite football.

Boston Stadium, where Scotland edged Haiti 1-0 in their opener, is working off the same template. It, too, is using a temporary grass pitch. Scotland will be back there for their second Group C match against Morocco on Friday (23:00 BST), with players and staff now watching closely how these surfaces hold up under repeated use, summer heat, and tight turnaround times.

In New Jersey, the heat only deepened frustrations. As Vinicius pointed out, once the sun bakes the grass and the moisture disappears, the ball drags, passes slow, and pressing becomes harder to sustain. Teams built on tempo and quick combinations can look strangely flat, not because of a tactical flaw, but because the ground beneath them is fighting back.

Big names, big games, and a nagging question

For now, the football itself has cut through. France have three points, three goals, and an early assist from Rabiot. Senegal will return to the same stadium to face Norway on 22 June, hoping to adapt better to the conditions and kick-start their own campaign.

Yet the murmur around MetLife is growing louder. With England due here, with a final looming here, this is no sideshow. When the world’s best gather for the last match of the tournament on 19 July, they will expect a surface worthy of the occasion.

The ball will roll. The tackles will fly in. The question is whether the pitch will be ready for the level of football the World Cup demands.