ENGLAND players have been warned about the worrying state of the MetLife Stadium pitch.
The Three Lions conclude Group L against Panama next Saturday at the 80,000-seater venue just outside New York.
Sign up for the Football newsletter
Thank you!
France players joined Vinicius in criticising the MetLife Stadium pitch Credit: AP
Adrien Rabiot did not hold back in his scathing assessment Credit: JattvibeSport
And it will also host the World Cup final on July 19.
But France ace Adrien Rabiot slammed the playing surface after the 3-1 win over Senegal – joining Brazilian Vinicius Junior who criticised it as “dry” on Saturday.
Midfielder Rabiot, 31, said: “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.
WORLDIE OFFERS
World Cup 2026 free bets and offers: Best new football sign-up deals
ANGRY ROW
‘Do as I told you’ – Thomas Tuchel and England star in furious row during game
“Hey, it was like that for both teams and you have to adapt.
“And well, I hope we’ll still have a better pitch for the other matches.”
Bradley Barcola, who came off the bench and made it 2-0, added: “It’s true, the pitch is not the best.
“But it’s not catastrophic either, so it’s fine.”
WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS
World Cup 2026 – all the info
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
This year’s World Cup is like no other as a record-breaking 48 nations compete to lift football’s biggest prize.
England manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping to finally bring football home after a 60-year drought.
But footballing legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have other plans in what will likely be their final World Cup appearance.
JattvibeSport have got everything you need for the huge tournament
LATEST NEWS
KEY INFO
VIDEO
TIPS AND BETTING
If you click a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
The grass pitch was installed just weeks before the tournament Credit: Reuters
The MetLife is home to both the New York Jets and the New York Giants NFL teams – and even has a reputation for being ‘cursed’ due to numerous high-profile injuries.
But – as with the Club World Cup a year ago – a grass pitch was laid over the regular synthetic NFL surface in the weeks before the World Cup in a mega two-day, 27-truck overhaul project.
And boss Didier Deschamps explained: “I think there’s probably concrete underneath, it’s very short fibres.
“The bounce is a bit different.”
Meanwhile on BBC commentary, Alan Shearer also highlighted the “ugly patches”.
