Manitoba grass seed to be used for FIFA World Cup matches

Manitoba farmers will be watching the World Cup games with a close eye next month. CTV's Jon Hendricks explains why.

Manitoba won’t be hosting any of the Canadian matches for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. But even if Messi and Ronaldo won’t be walking on our soil, they will be running on our grass.

“It’s cleaned, it’s bagged, it’s gone to where it’s needed,” said Tom Rinn, the Western Canadian Sales Manager for DLF Canada. “And Mexico City and Vancouver specifically are using those varieties in the stadiums.”

Manitoba farmers have produced two special types of ryegrass seed that DLF Canada calls Fiesta Cinco and SR 4700. They’ll be used to overseed and fill in the turf used for the World Cup matches in the Canadian and Mexican stadiums.

“There’s a team of people that specialize in turf,” said Rinn. “They’re looking at it right from the ground to when it’s first done on a checkerboard, and they’re testing it for different stresses.”

And with billions of people around the world expected to watch the matches, FIFA needs the grass used in each match to be perfect.

Luckily, DLF Canada has a lot of experience producing grass seeds. Their product has been used in past World Cups and at PGA tournaments around the world.

“There’s a lot of science that goes into that. So it’s bred for that in particular here,” Rinn said.

The world will get a chance to see their grass in action on June 13th, when the first World Cup match in Vancouver gets underway.