England international Reece James called out the weather and pitch conditions in the United States ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
James and Chelsea won the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the U.S. this past summer. The club captain made five appearances in the expanded competition, getting some first-hand experience of what the summer conditions would be like come 2026.
Describing the “difficult” conditions, the 25-year-old insisted England are keeping the weather in mind when preparing for the tournament.
“It’s been a key message that the conditions will be tough in the middle of the summer in America. Everyone is aware of that. We’re trying to prepare as best we can for that,” James told assembled media at England’s press conference on Wednesday.
“It’s super difficult conditions to play in that heat. Especially for us playing in England, there’s not anything like that before. Once you are out there you adapt the longer you are there, when you are settled in one place and try to limit the things you can.”
James revealed England plan on arriving to the U.S. early to get themselves acclimated to the environment.
Pitch Conditions Take Center Stage Once Again
Even more concerning was James restarting the pitch conditions conversation with less than seven months to go until the World Cup.
“The pitches when we were there weren’t the greatest either and made it a little bit harder. But hopefully by the time the World Cup comes around it’s better,” James admitted, though he did not specify which stadiums were of concern.
Chelsea played at four different stadiums in the Club World Cup, three of which will be in use at the 2026 international tournament.
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta, GA (2026 stadium)
- Lincoln Financial Field | Philadelphia, PA (2026 stadium)
- Bank of America Stadium | Charlotte, NC
- MetLife Stadium | East Rutherford, NJ (2026 stadium)
The right back is not the first player in recent history to question the playing surfaces in the U.S., especially among Club World Cup competitors. Former Palmeiras player, Estêvão, also called out the pitch conditions at MetLife Stadium in their group stage match against Porto. The stadium is set to host the World Cup final.
MetLife historically is a controversial venue for its synthetic turf. The eye-raising amount of season-ending injuries suffered in the NFL at the stadium raised concern initially, but natural grass was installed for the Club World Cup as required by FIFA. Still, the changes seem to be substandard in players’ minds.
Argentina’s Emiliano Martínez and Lionel Scaloni also denounced pitch conditions during the 2024 Copa América when they played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Two Critical 2026 World Cup Issues Could Be ‘Super Difficult’ for Players.
