SoFi Stadium Goes World Cup: 8 Matches, 1 Super Bowl, LA28 on a 298-Acre Campus
SoFi Stadium — 3.1M sq ft, 100 ft into the ground, a 70,000 sq ft Infinity Screen — is converting from NFL geometry to a FIFA pitch to host 8 World Cup matches including the 2026 final, then a Super Bowl, then the LA28 Olympic swimming venue and opening ceremonies.
Sports Dissected walked SoFi Stadium with HKS architect Lance Evans while crews were mid-conversion: NFL field out, FIFA pitch in. SoFi was designed from day one to host a full World Cup pitch, and now it's collecting all of them — 8 of the 11 US World Cup matches, the 2026 final, a Super Bowl after, then LA28 Olympic swimming and opening ceremonies on top.
The scale is the story. 298-acre campus. 3.1 million square feet — the largest NFL stadium. 100 feet dug into the ground. Three independent structures — roof, bowl, and a mechanically stabilized earth wall — that move separately in a seismic event. The 65% fritted ETFE canopy blocks UV and equalizes the sunny-side/shade-side split that every other outdoor venue lives with. The Infinity Screen is 70,000 square feet of 4K LED, center-hung, powered by 32 Ross Expression server nodes running in sync.
The FIFA convert is engineered, not improvised. The corners are LEGO-style demountable — pull them out, get the pitch width. The closest fans (18 rows back, the closest screening product in any NFL stadium) stay close. Natural grass goes in over the NFL slab, which sits about three feet below FIFA grade.
Add 2,700 LED pucks in the roof — 800,000 square feet of overhead board visible from every plane on LAX final — and 54 operable roof panels for updraft cooling. SoFi isn't just hosting the World Cup final. It was built for it.