Sunday, SoFi Stadium was awarded eight games in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
In the months leading up to Sunday’s announcement, reports had SoFi Stadium either being passed over by FIFA or limited in the number of games the stadium would host.
“There was a lot of chatter around the field size, which all of it was unfounded,” Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said Monday. “Nearly every NFL stadium that exists in this tournament is undergoing some kind of renovation for FIFA to accommodate their field size, which is larger than a friendly match that you would host, for Copa America or Gold Cup, which we’ve hosted successfully.
“I think a lot of that was driven by the competition amongst cities to try to knock stadiums down. When you have a stadium as attractive as SoFi Stadium and people competing for events, I think that was driven by other cities, than it was the reality of FIFA.”
SoFi Stadium will host five group stage games, including two for the USMNT. The stadium will also host two games in the Round of 32 and one quarterfinal game.
SoFi’s renovations are underway. Otto Benedict, Senior Vice President of Facility and Campus Operations for SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, said that construction began Sunday night.
“SoFi Stadium was designed to host a FIFA regulation pitch size, so with our system we have in place now, we will fit a 65 meter (x 105 meter) pitch into our stadium,” he said. “In conversations with FIFA and their needs around auxiliary space for the field, we’re going to expand that and modify our seating system to include a couple more rows in each corner so that we can get to the 73-plus meter distance that FIFA has requested.”
The renovations will create more space to fit the larger field required by FIFA. The first phase, according to the AP, is “replacing concrete in the corners of the lower bowl with bleacher risers that can be rolled back during soccer matches.”
“We’re taking a 90-day…
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