SEATTLE — In campaigning for the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup to select Seattle as one of its host cities, an executive committee wove together three things — soccer history, ingenuity and inclusiveness. But for FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, the three that matter are pitch, pitch and pitch — as in grass fields. “The pitch is everything. The pitch is sacrosanct,” said Victor Montagliani, a FIFA vice president and president of CONCACAF. He was joined by Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief tournaments and events officer, as leads of the delegation that spent two days evaluating Seattle’s vision of …
