SoFi Stadium has new look — and name — for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially arrived in Southern California, soccer fans from across the world have seen what Los Angeles — er, Inglewood — has to offer, in terms of its world-class sports venues.

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But many locals were surprised to see the beloved SoFi Stadium stripped of its traditional name and branding when the U.S. men’s national team played its first match of the tournament against Paraguay on June 12, with commentators on the national broadcast simply calling the venue the “Los Angeles Stadium.”

And not only that — any mention of SoFi Stadium, outside or in the venue, had been removed. Some viewers may have also noticed that the venue itself looked different: slightly larger, with some ground-level box seats missing, and a grass on the pitch.

Well, if you noticed any of those changes, you’re not going crazy. And SoFi isn’t alone — stadiums across America implemented these temporary alterations ahead of the World Cup, in compliance with FIFA’s strict regulatory standards for branding, advertising, pitch requirements and more.

So what exactly is different at SoFi?

Most noticeably, SoFi is no longer being called SoFi. Instead, it’ll just be referred to as Los Angeles Stadium for the duration of the World Cup. After hosting Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday, June 18, the stadium is set to host six more matches, including Belgium vs. Iran on Sunday, June 21, and Türkiye vs. the U.S. on Thursday, June 25.

The stadium will also host two Round of 32 matches — with the competitors yet to be determined — on June 28 and July 2, alongside a quarterfinal match on July 10.

Besides the name change on television, FIFA has also required all SoFi branding to be covered up for the remainder of the World Cup. The same is true for stadium sponsors at other World Cup venues, with any non-FIFA-approved brand or sponsor having also been covered up. (The lone exception is Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That facility, currently referred to as Atlanta Stadium, was allows to keep the Mercedes-Benz logo atop its arena because it’s part of a retractable roof and the cost of removing or altering it would be prohibitive.)

FIFA is notorious for its strict regulations, especially when it comes to sponsors and branding. Some have dubbed the changes at stadiums across the country as “The Great Debranding,” with some stadium title sponsors, like Lumen in Seattle, using the social media buzz about the issue as an opportunity to make a viral marketing moment happen for their brands — despite the FIFA-mandated blackouts, according to the Washington Post.

Besides name changes, World Cup venues, including SoFi Stadium, have also physically changed to accommodate the tournament.

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The Inglewood stadium typically hosts NFL matches, since it is home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. But American football fields are narrower than soccer pitches. SoFi also typically has artificial turf — but that also needed to change for the World Cup.

So to comply with yet more FIFA regulations, SoFi Stadium removed 400 corner seats (100 in each corner) to create wider dimensions and auxiliary space for the pitch.

“The design was to make it look intentional and when we convert back, we’ll be able to put those same seats back in,” Otto Benedict, SoFi Stadium’s senior vice president of facility and campus operations, said previously. “We worked with FIFA in their design needs, as well as our architects, to create a seamless, very easy-to-convert system, which already exists in the building.”

They also installed a new irrigation system to maintain the very specific grass used during the World Cup, which was carted in on a 1,600-mile trip from Washington state in refrigerated trucks.

FIFA requires that competitive matches be played on mostly natural grass — which has to be relatively the same across venues to ensure no competitive disadvantages. Efforts to engineer the perfect grass began nearly eight years before the 2026 World Cup actually got started.

In the end, experts came up with two different varieties of grass blends to accommodate different weather conditions at venues across the World Cup’s three host countries, the U.S., Mexico and Canada. In warmer climates, stadiums installed Bermuda grass, while cooler climates and indoor venues got a perennial rye and Kentucky bluegrass hybrid.

So when you watch the next World Cup match at Los Angeles Stadium,  keep your eyes peeled for all the little changes — and you may even be able to impress your friends at the watch party with some fun facts.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.