Gillette on list for World Cup

Gillette Stadium is among 70 potential sites on the list of the USA bid committee for 2018/2022 World Cup. Though Gillette's capacity (68,000) does not rank among the top 12, but Foxborough's soccer tradition and the area's successful staging of the '94 World Cup will work in its favor, according to US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati.

"We want to be in large markets," Gulati said during a conference call. "Size is important but not all stadiums are going to be 80,000-plus."

Gulati said artificial turf at stadia such as Gillette and Qwest Field in Seattle would not be a factor, because a grass surface can be installed.

A total of 11 groups are expected to have bids evaluated by FIFA in May 2010. Next year's World Cup will be held in South Africa and the 2014 event is set for Brazil. The USA bid committee has set a preliminary goal of averaging 75,000 attendance for the 64-match tournament.

Foxboro Stadium attracted more than 324,000 spectators for six World Cup matches in 1994. Gillette, which opened in 2002, and most modern NFL stadia have been constructed to World Cup specifications.