World Cup Faces Dangerous Heat as Players’ Union Threshold Breached
The World Cup wanted a North American summer spectacle. It has got one – in all its scorching, airless intensity.
An analysis of the first round of group games – the opening 24 matches across the US, Mexico and Canada – shows that two fixtures were played in heat so severe that the global players’ union Fifpro has previously said games should be delayed or postponed at that point. Four more took place in cities where conditions outside also breached that line, with only stadium air conditioning keeping the worst of it off the pitch.
At the sharp end of the data sits Saudi Arabia v Uruguay in Miami. Even with an evening kick-off, it was the most extreme match of the opening round in a stadium without a roof or AC. Sweden v Tunisia in Monterrey was next on that unwelcome list.
Both were played in wet-bulb temperatures of 28C (82F) or higher – the level at which Fifpro has argued football should pause.
Fifpro, asked about the findings, declined to comment on the specific heat conditions at this World Cup. But its stance is already on record: 28C wet-bulb should trigger a rethink, not a routine kick-off. This tournament, forecasts suggest, will be the hottest World Cup since the competition began in 1930.
What those numbers mean on the ground
Wet-bulb temperature is not a standard forecast figure. It blends air temperature, humidity and cloud cover into a single measure of heat stress – a way of gauging how well a human body can cool itself by sweating.
At a certain point, it cannot. Sweat stops evaporating properly, the body overheats, and the risk rises fast: from dizziness and illness to potentially fatal heatstroke.
To map conditions around the tournament, the analysis drew on weather data from government agencies in the US and UK, then calculated wet-bulb readings using a formula already used by authorities in countries such as Australia and Canada.
The picture that emerges is stark. Six of the first 24 games took place where the wet-bulb temperature hit 28C or more:
- Germany v Curaçao in Houston
- Saudi Arabia v Uruguay in Miami
- Portugal v DR Congo in Houston
- Netherlands v Japan in Dallas
- England v Croatia in Dallas
- and one further match in Dallas
Houston and Dallas at least offered artificial relief. Their stadiums are air conditioned, a technological shield against record-breaking heat outside.
England’s opener against Croatia in Dallas underlined the split reality of this World Cup. Outside, the wet-bulb reading pushed close to 35C (95F), the fiercest yet. Inside, the AC dragged conditions down to around 22C (71F), a temperature more in keeping with a mild spring evening than a punishing southern summer.
Fans and workers left exposed
Not everyone gets the benefit of a sealed, climate-controlled bowl. Record highs around some venues have already left fans wilting in shadeless concourses and exposed seating, while stadium workers – on site for hours, often hauling heavy equipment long before kick-off – face the most sustained risk.
Current Fifa guidance calls for cooling breaks when the heat hits 32C (89F). In practice, referees have been stopping play for drinks at lower readings during this tournament. The decision to delay or suspend matches remains at the discretion of competition organisers.
A group of heat and public health specialists warned that this is not enough. On the eve of the tournament, they wrote an open letter urging Fifa to adopt stronger protections, explicitly backing Fifpro’s call for games to be delayed or called off once wet-bulb temperatures reach 28C.
Robbie Parks, an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University and one of the signatories, points to a simple problem: the readings often understate what people feel.
“Temperatures are often taken from shaded areas and if players are in direct sun, it can be double figures more than the temperature readings,” he said. Standing in full sun, he added, can be dangerous even at much lower numbers. Anything above 23C (73F) or 25C (77F) would concern him for older adults out in the open for more than a few minutes.
Parks accepts that air conditioning, late kick-offs and water breaks will help the athletes. His concern stretches wider – to those who cannot retreat to a cooled dressing room.
“Shade is super important and hydration is super important,” he said. That means allowing supporters to bring their own water, installing misting systems for evaporative cooling and rethinking exposed areas. His eye is already on the final in New Jersey, at an uncovered stadium. “That stadium isn’t covered which makes me worry. But I’d hope Fifa will learn the best way to deal with that by then.”
Climate crisis on the touchline
This World Cup is not just threatened by the climate crisis; it is adding to it.
Extreme heat is already the deadliest climate-related hazard on the planet, claiming more lives each year than hurricanes, floods and wildfires combined. The tournament itself is expected to generate about 7.8m tonnes of greenhouse gases from more than 100 matches, according to estimates by the carbon accounting platform Greenly – roughly double the emissions linked to the previous World Cup in Qatar.
So the spectacle that is forcing players, fans and workers into dangerous conditions is also helping to fuel the very heatwaves that make staging it so fraught.
Fifa’s mitigation playbook
Fifa insists it has read the warnings. The governing body says it is “committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff” at this World Cup.
Meteorologists are stationed at venues to track conditions and advise on extreme weather. Planning, Fifa says, involves “close coordination” with host cities, stadium authorities and national agencies.
Ahead of the tournament, organisers agreed a “tiered mitigation model” for high temperatures, with extra measures triggered at different thresholds. For players, that means mandatory hydration breaks, ready access to water and electrolyte drinks, and a range of cooling tools: ice, cold towels, fans, mist and shade.
For supporters, elevated temperatures are supposed to prompt “additional cooling capacity” – shaded areas, misting systems, cooling buses and expanded water distribution in and around stadiums.
Medical teams have a new set-piece protocol for treating heat exertion, with cooling bags being used at a World Cup for the first time. Fifa says it will continue to monitor conditions in real time, using wet-bulb globe temperature and heat index data, and stands ready to deploy contingency plans if extreme weather hits.
The question now is whether those layers of mitigation can keep pace with a tournament that is already pushing beyond the thresholds players’ representatives set years ago – and with a climate that is only just getting started.
