Extreme heat tests 2026 World Cup organizers

With less than six months to go before the 2026 World Cup kicks off, organizers are preparing for a threat that cannot be outcoached: extreme heat.

Soaring temperatures across the United States, Mexico and Canada are raising safety concerns for players and fans, while leaving major operational questions unresolved, according to Agence France-Presse.

Deep inside the USD 5.5 billion SoFi Stadium complex in the Los Angeles area, about 15 industrial misting fans more than 2 meters tall sit in storage, ready to roll out if temperatures climb above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius).

SoFi, which is slated to host eight World Cup matches, has design advantages that newer venues can leverage as tournament officials try to avoid repeats of heat-related disruptions seen in other recent competitions.

A roof suspended about 45 meters above the pitch provides shade for many spectators, while large openings along the sides allow breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean to move through the stadium, offering a form of natural cooling.

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

Not all 16 World Cup stadiums are as modern, and Southern California is not considered among the highest-risk areas for a tournament scheduled from June 11 to July 19, three and a half years after a winter World Cup in Qatar.

Heat risk has been flagged by researchers who study how temperature and humidity affect human performance and health, particularly when exertion is prolonged and hydration is limited.

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

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

The “Pitches in Peril” report by the Football for Future nonprofit said that, in 2025, each of those cities recorded at least one day above 35 degrees Celsius on the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) scale, which accounts for humidity and is often used to estimate heat stress.

Heat concerns were a major storyline at this year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, when players and coaches complained about conditions they said affected performance and recovery.

Extreme heat also shaped the 1994 World Cup, the last men’s edition held in the United States, reinforcing how summer scheduling can turn midday kickoffs into a contest of endurance.

FIFA has responded by mandating cooling, or hydration, breaks in all matches at the World Cup, regardless of weather conditions, as part of a player-welfare plan.

The approach calls for three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half, with reporting around the tournament also describing stoppages in the 22nd and 67th minutes.

The match schedule released after December’s draw in Washington shows daytime games largely assigned to air-conditioned stadiums in Dallas, Houston and Atlanta, while higher-risk venues are positioned for evening kickoffs.

“You can clearly see an effort to align the competition schedule planning and venue selection with the concerns around player health, but also player performance,” a spokesperson for the FIFPro players union told AFP.

“This is a clear outcome, which we welcome, and a lesson learned from the Club World Cup,” the spokesperson added.

FIFPro says heat will play an increasingly central role in organizing elite competitions on a warming planet, but the union believes some fixtures remain “high-risk.”

The union recommends postponements when WBGT readings exceed 28 degrees Celsius, and it has flagged group-stage matches scheduled for mid-afternoon in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, along with the final set for a 3 p.m. kickoff in New York.

While teams can adjust training loads, rotate lineups and lean on medical staff, some officials say risks to spectators inside stadiums and in fan zones are being underestimated.

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

“When you’re cheering, you’re actually generating a lot of metabolic heat and your heart rate’s going up. Spectators obviously compared to professional athletes are generally not in as good physical health,” Fuhrmann said.

“They have a lot of comorbidities that increase the likelihood that they would have a negative health outcome or succumb to heat stress,” he added.

Stadium temperatures can also rise because of the “urban heat island” effect, in which concrete, asphalt and metal absorb and re-radiate heat, pushing conditions higher than surrounding areas.

Fuhrmann said adequate air circulation, shaded areas and access to hydration are crucial, but he cautioned that hydration strategies can be undermined by alcohol consumption.

FIFA has not clarified whether fans will be allowed to bring refillable water bottles into venues or whether water will be sold inside, and it did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

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

Another lesson from the Club World Cup, he said, is the need for multilingual messaging so heat-safety warnings are clearly understood by traveling fans moving between cities with different risk profiles.

“The lesson learned is just trying to maybe better educate fans as they come to the United States to have a better understanding of what the weather could be like during those two months,” Schott said.