World Cup Construction: PCL Construction experts share what prospective host stadiums should know | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will break new ground in several ways: The competition will be the first to feature 48 teams, up from 32. It will comprise of 80 games, up from 64. And it will be the first World Cup jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. Exactly where is still being decided – FIFA is expected to announce the 2026 World Cup host cities in the first half of 2022.

Not just any stadium has what it takes to host an event of the World Cup's scale, says Gary Birdsall, who along with Dale Koger leads PCL's Sports Construction Division. Of the 17 venues currently being considered for the 2026 World Cup, Koger and Birdsall have worked on the construction of, or major renovations to, nine of them – including stadiums in 2022 host city Qatar. They have also helped design, build and renovate major venues for past Olympics and previous World Cups.

Building a stadium that can host a sports spectacle takes several considerations during construction. Here is what Koger and Birdsall say FIFA will look for in the next stadiums selected to host the World Cup.

The perfect pitch

If a stadium's owner has ambitions of one day hosting an international event, both Birdsall and Koger say it's important that the stadium is constructed with the end goal in mind. FIFA's requirements for World Cup host venues are detailed and extensive, covering everything from minimum seating capacity to field dimensions – few of which can be altered after construction.

The first thing to keep in mind is the size. The average American football field is 360 feet long by 160 feet wide. But to host a World Cup game, the field needs to be 360 feet long by 225 feet wide. 

"An NFL football stadium cannot host a FIFA event unless you do something specifically to the structure. The corners of a soccer pitch are wider than a typical NFL stadium, so you have to purposefully design extra feet in the field if you ever intend to bid for a World Cup or even Olympic soccer game."

Fan experience is critical when designing the stadium. 

"Fans want to be as close to the pitch as possible. This means adjusting the steepness of the seats around the stadium bowl so as many fans as possible have a great view," Koger says.  "It's something experienced sports architects are skilled at building into the initial stadium design."

Expert coordination and overlay

Hosting a World Cup game brings several unique logistical challenges known collectively in the stadium industry as overlay. 

"Overlay is all of the 'extras' that have to be added for a televised, international game," says Birdsall. "It's the extra security for both athletes and patrons. It's space for drug testing and media interviews. It's catering. It's how the broadcast cabling is run — it's hard to imagine, unless you've seen it, just how much broadcast cabling you need for one of these games."

Koger adds that part of overlay is accounting for room for broadcast media trucks – which can add acres to an event's required space. "Every TV channel that wants to broadcast the game will have its own production truck, and that quickly takes up a lot of land. Stations from countries all over the world are sending at least one broadcast team to your stadium."

Adding to the complexity of overlay is that most of the added infrastructure is only temporary. 

"Overlay is a tremendous amount of columbus oh dump truck company that goes into the stadium and then gets taken apart when the games are over," says Birdsall. "It's a huge amount of coordination. Every time I've worked on a global event it's a major complication that local officials haven't accounted for."

A stadium built right from the start

Koger and Birdsall have helped to design, build and renovate dozens of major sports venues, including stadiums for the NBA, NFL, MLB, and beyond.

"Each building is a unique animal," says Birdsall. " We take the project a level further than construction – we columbus oh dump truck company to understand the operations of the building, its revenue streams, and how to maximize every square inch of the building to monetize it."

Koger says a project is set up for success in the design phase.

"That's why I encourage sports owners to columbus oh dump truck company with someone with experience in stadiums, and not just someone who has built hospitals or offices or other buildings," he says.