Huge concerns for World Cup stadium after image of new stand circulates

Fans have expressed concerns for one of the World Cup stadiums after an image circulated online.

The 2026 showpiece is taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico and the 104 games will be played across a total of 16 stadiums.

The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the most fixtures, with a total of World Cup eight fixtures - including the final.

In Canada, only two cities have been selected - with games split between Toronto and Vancouver.

Toronto's BMO Field has five group stage games and one knockout match, with Canada playing their three group games on home soil.

The BMO Field has a capacity of just short of 30,000 but has been extended to around 45,000 to fit in more fans.

That has been achieved by the addition of two temporary structures bringing in 17,000 seats. Those structures are being held up by scaffolding and appear incredibly curved and high up in the air.

But in addition, the seats look a considerable distance away from the all-important action on the pitch. And it looks as though the view could well be heavily obstructed by the roof of the permanent stand in front of the temporary structure.

And already there are a plenty of worries about the new stand.

The BMO Field has new temporary structures. Image: Reddit/hot4hotz

On Reddit, one fan wrote: "I know this is perfectly safe and proven time and time again to be sound from an engineering perspective, however it is still is absolutely terrifying to look at, let alone sit in."

A second said: "As someone who’s been here, it does get super windy as it’s right on the lake."

A third user added: "I would definitely not dare to perform any rhythmic jumping on that stand.

A fourth person weighed in, commenting: "It's the Priestfield Stadium but on steroids."

Why World Cup stadiums must change name for tournament

The BMO Field is home of MLS side Toronto FC but it will not be referred to that name throughout the World Cup. Instead it will be known as the Toronto Stadium.

All 16 venues for the tournament cannot have brands and companies in their stadium names due to the various big-money sponsorships FIFA have in place.

Host cities must agree to remove brands and sponsors from their stadiums during the tournament in line with FIFA's regulations when it comes to marketing.

Though the Club World Cup came at a short notice and did not include de-branding, Sports Business Journal reports that all stadium owners agreed remove all branding involving "any stands, scoreboards, seats, seatbacks, time clocks, staff uniforms, accreditation passes, fences or elsewhere inside, surrounding or in the airspace above and around the stadium.”