UN: Extreme heatwaves from climate change threaten 2026 World Cup players and spectators

The United Nations has issued a stark warning regarding the 2026 World Cup, the largest football tournament in history, highlighting the escalating threat of extreme heatwaves driven by climate change. This worsening climate condition poses a significant risk to the safety of players, spectators, and the very continuity of the matches.

According to recent analysis, approximately one in every four games is expected to be played under dangerous heat conditions. Furthermore, at least five matches are at risk of being postponed due to temperatures exceeding critical thresholds. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stated that the planet is heating up due to over a century of burning fossil fuels, trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Latest findings from World Weather Attribution (WWA) indicate that 26 out of 104 World Cup matches may occur under conditions where heat stress poses a tangible risk to players. This assessment utilizes the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which accounts for air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind, providing a more comprehensive measure of heat stress than conventional temperature readings.

Experts advising FIFPRO, the global players' union, have set the WBGT threshold at 26 degrees Celsius for recommended cooling breaks, beyond which player performance begins to suffer. A WBGT of 28 degrees Celsius is considered a red line, triggering recommendations for match postponements. The WWA study estimates that around five matches, including the final, two quarter-finals, and the third-place playoff, could surpass this 28-degree Celsius limit. At least two group stage matches have already been played under conditions exceeding this dangerous threshold.

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We all watch the game, but the game stops, because it's too hot, too hot for the players, for the spectators, for everyone. The weather is hot and getting hotter. That is not by accident. That is climate change. The planet is heating up after more than a century of burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. That is trapping heat in the atmosphere. And now we are feeling it, everywhere.