Heat is proving to be a major challenge in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup

With less than six months to go before the 2026 World Cup kicks off, organizers are bracing for what could be their most challenging opponent yet: extreme heat.

Rising temperatures in the United States, Mexico and Canada are creating safety concerns for players and fans and a host of logistical issues that are far from resolved.

In the depths of Los Angeles’ $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium, which will host eight World Cup matches, about 15 industrial fog fans measuring over two meters sit in storage, waiting to be deployed. When the temperature rises above 26.7 degrees Celsius, the fans are rolled out through the stadium.

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A roof hanging some 150 feet above the SoFi Stadium field provides some shade for spectators, while large openings along the sides of the stadium allow breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean to provide a form of natural air conditioning.

“Knowing that you can put 70,000 people in a building, the energy, the excitement, the activity that comes with that, and the higher temperature, that’s what we want to make sure we respond to,” Otto Benedict, vice president of operations at the company that manages the stadium, told AFP.

Not all sixteen World Cup stadiums are equally modern. And Southern California is not considered among the highest risk areas for a match scheduled for June 11 to July 19, three and a half years after a winter world championship in Qatar.

Automatic cooling breaks

A study published in the International Journal of Biometeorology warned of “serious concerns” for the health of players and match officials at the 2026 World Cup due to extreme heat.

The study identified six “high-risk” host cities: Monterrey, Miami, Kansas City, Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

The ‘Pitches in Peril’ report from the non-profit organization Football for Future notes that in 2025, these cities each recorded at least one day above 35 degrees Celsius on the wet-globe temperature scale (WBGT), which takes into account humidity and is considered the upper limit of human heat tolerance.

The issue of heat was prominently featured at this year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, with players and coaches receiving complaints.

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Extreme heat also marked the 1994 World Cup, the last men’s edition to be held in the United States.

FIFA has responded by mandating cool-down breaks at the 22nd and 67th minutes of all World Cup matches, regardless of conditions.

The World Cup match schedule released after the draw in Washington in December shows that daytime matches have largely been allocated to air-conditioned stadiums in Dallas, Houston and Atlanta, while high-risk locations will have kick-offs in the evening.

“You can clearly see an attempt to align fixture planning and venue selection with concerns around player health, but also player performance,” a spokesperson for players’ union FIFPro told AFP. “This is a clear result that we welcome, and a lesson learned from the Club World Cup.”

High risk competitions

FIFPRO says the biggest takeaway is that heat will play an increasingly central role in organizing competitions on a warming planet.

However, the union believes that several World Cup matches remain «risky» and recommends postponement when WBGT values ​​rise above 28 degrees Celsius.

Among the matches of concern to FIFPro: the group stage matches scheduled for mid-afternoon in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, as well as the final, which starts at 3 p.m. in New York.

As teams and players work to mitigate the effects of the conditions, some officials say the risks to spectators, both in stadiums and fan zones, have been underestimated.

“There is a risk and, more importantly, we feel it is an underappreciated risk,” said Chris Fuhrmann, deputy director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Regional Center.

“When you’re cheering, you’re actually generating a lot of metabolic heat and your heart rate goes up. Obviously, compared to professional athletes, spectators are generally not in as good physical health.

“They have many comorbidities that increase the likelihood that they will have a negative health outcome or succumb to heat stress.”

Temperatures in stadiums are also amplified by the ‘urban heat island’ effect of concrete, asphalt and metal.

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Adequate air circulation, plenty of shaded areas and access to hydration are crucial, Fuhrmann said — although hydration is often undermined by alcohol consumption.

FIFA has not yet clarified whether fans will be allowed to bring refillable water bottles into venues or whether water will be sold indoors. FIFA did not respond to requests for comment.

Prevention

For meteorologist Benjamin Schott of the National Weather Service, who has advised FIFA and its World Cup task force, the priority is prevention, especially for foreign visitors unfamiliar with the local climate.

Another lesson from the Club World Cup, he said, is the need for multilingual messaging to ensure heat safety warnings are clearly understood.

“The lesson we learned is to maybe better educate fans when they come to the United States, to get a better understanding of what the weather might be like during those two months,” Schott said.

Published on December 26, 2025