VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps returned to MLS action at BC Place for the first time since April 25 earning a 1-1 draw against playoff rival LAFC. After playing in the MLS All-Star game earlier in the week, both Son Heung-min and Thomas Müller scored, but the two stars weren’t the main talking point.

A crowd of 40,086 was on hand in what was the first MLS match at BC Place on the newly installed turf surface following the 2026 World Cup that featured seven matches played on temporary grass at BC Place. Grass was only scheduled to be in place for the World Cup. 

The Whitecaps and BC Lions were not consulted on the installation of the new turf surface.

Jesper Sørensen says “there’s more life in my hair than there is on this pitch”.

Jesper not a fan of the new BC Place pitch!#VWFC

— AFTN (@aftncanada) July 31, 2026

Ahead of the anticipated fixture against LAFC, Vancouver held a rare training session on Friday at BC Place to get a sense of the new turf surface and the movement of the ball. 

“It’s definitely slower,” Brian White told reporters on Friday. “It’s new turf, it’s thick, but we have to be ready for it. Everyone has to play on the same field.”

How did the ball hold up on the turf on Saturday?

“It certainly doesn’t move like the nice grass that was here in this stadium,” LAFC’s Canadian winger Jacob Shaffelburg told reporters post match. “That was unbelievable, but turf is turf. I guess we’re just not used to it that much. We would prefer grass here, it would be nice.”

It was clear to see that both the Whitecaps and LAFC had some challenges with the new turf. The height of the turf blades meant that the ball moved a lot slower, the familiar basketball style bounce that you would see from the ball on the old turf was nonexistent. 

Some of the longer outlet passes were not connecting. The ball at times was coming up short of its intended recipient or it was easily picked off by the opponent. 

“The first 15 minutes I thought it was really hard for us to get used to the surface,” LAFC Coach Marc Dos Santos told reporters after the draw. “A lot of plays where I didn’t feel our guys were comfortable. Some touches where the ball didn’t go forward. When you play against a team that has moments of counter pressure that are so aggressive, you need to have the ability to get out of that and we struggled a lot with that. Getting out of pressure was really hard for us.”

Vancouver held a commanding 62-38 percent possession advantage, keeping the ball for large stretches, in particular the early stages of both halves. In a match where both teams struggled to finish in the final third, the Whitecaps looked more comfortable with the new turf. 

LAFC’s transition play was impacted by the new turf. The timing was off for the visitors. The ball was not in sync with the quick explosiveness you often see from LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-min, Timothy Tillman, and Shaffelburg. 

How did the ball move?

“It didn’t,” Dos Santos said. “It didn’t move. Yeah it didn’t move, maybe because it was new, the first game. It really stopped a lot. The players that we have, guys like Denis or Sonny that like to turn and accelerate to attack the space in front of them or Timmy or Shaff many many plays, they turned and go and the ball stays behind. It was uncomfortable. Vancouver did a very good job putting pressure on us so then when you have to come out and the pressure is aggressive and the field is the way it is, it makes it difficult.” 

Goalkeepers Yohei Takaoka and Hugo Lloris also had to navigate the new turf. Judging crosses into the box, playing the ball out of the back, and anticipating when to come out of the net for a ball are all different aspects that goalkeepers have to take into consideration. 

Prior to the match, Takaoka noted that the turf was a little long and the ball dies.

“The bounce is different,” Takaoka told Canadian Soccer Daily. “The ball runs or not so it’s completely different.”  

The 39 year-old Lloris had some choice words regarding the old BC Place turf surface after the Whitecaps eliminated LAFC from the MLS playoffs in November. 

Following Saturday’s draw in Vancouver, Lloris was once again asked for his thoughts on the BC Place turf surface and he did not disappoint in his assessment of the quality of the pitch. 

“No, we say no we don’t talk about it,” Lloris said, not wanting to talk about the pitch. “To be honest, I will repeat the same. It’s really hard for football players to play on this field. It’s almost a different sport, you know, because of the bounce, because of the sand, and credit to Vancouver because they are capable to play really good football on this field. We had to adapt the first 15, 20 minutes of the game. We lost so many easy balls. We always needed one or two extra touches, you know. It’s done, it’s one point, and we can move forward.” 

Is the new BC Place turf surface better than the surface Lloris played on back in November?

“Comme ci, comme ça, that’s a good one,” Lloris said. “Comme ci, comme ça.” 

The Whitecaps will look to continue to adapt to the new turf with the more matches they play on it. Vancouver has a pair of Leagues Cup matches coming up when they host Liga MX clubs Atlante on Tuesday, August 4 and Juárez on Friday, August 7.

“It’s a difficult surface right now because it’s brand new,” White said. “Hopefully in a couple of games you get more used to it and it gets more natural. It’s going to be interesting.”

The Whitecaps get another chance to break in their new turf on Tuesday when the Caps host Liga MX side Atlante in the Leagues Cup.