World Cup Faces Extreme Heat Challenges Amid Player Safety Concerns
The World Cup was always going to be hot. It is turning out to be something else entirely.
An analysis of the first round of group matches shows that two games were played in heat levels a leading players’ union has previously said should trigger delays or postponements. Four more were staged in cities beyond that same danger line, with only stadium air conditioning keeping conditions remotely manageable.
At the sharpest edge of it all: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay in Miami. Even with an evening kick-off, it was the most extreme fixture of the opening round in stadiums without air conditioning. Sweden v Tunisia in Monterrey ran it close. Both were played in wet‑bulb temperatures of 28C (82F) or higher – a level Fifpro, the global players’ union, has argued should be the point at which football simply stops.
This World Cup, spread across the US, Mexico and Canada, is forecast to be the hottest in the tournament’s history, stretching back to 1930. The numbers from the opening 24 matches suggest that prediction is already biting.
What 28C really means
To the untrained eye, 28C might sound uncomfortable rather than life‑threatening. Wet‑bulb temperature tells a very different story.
It combines air temperature, humidity and cloud cover to gauge how well the human body can cool itself through sweating. At a certain point, sweat no longer evaporates properly. The body overheats quickly. Illness and, in extreme cases, death can follow.
Using weather data from government agencies in the US and UK, and a wet‑bulb formula employed by authorities in countries such as Australia and Canada, the Guardian analysis found six of the first 24 games crossed the 28C threshold at the venue, regardless of what the thermometer inside the stadium eventually showed.
Those matches were:
- Germany v Curacao in Houston
- Saudi Arabia v Uruguay in Miami
- Portugal v DR Congo in Houston
- Netherlands v Japan in Dallas
- England v Croatia in Dallas
- A second match in Dallas, again England v Croatia, recorded as having the fiercest wet‑bulb temperature so far, close to 35C (95F) outside
Houston and Dallas both benefit from air‑conditioned stadiums. In Dallas, the cooling system dragged the on‑pitch temperature down from a brutal wet‑bulb reading of nearly 35C to around 22C (71F). Without that intervention, it would have been a different contest entirely.
Fifpro, asked about the findings, declined to comment on the specific conditions at this World Cup. Its broader stance, though, is clear: games at or above a wet‑bulb temperature of 28C should be delayed or postponed.
Heat that outpaces the game
Football has long had a heat policy. Fifa’s current guidelines call for cooling breaks when games are played in 32C (89F) or above, with the option to delay or suspend matches left to competition organisers. In practice, drinks breaks have been used at lower readings during this tournament.
The problem is that traditional temperature measures lag behind the science of heat stress. Wet‑bulb readings show how dangerous conditions can be even when the official temperature appears manageable.
“Temperatures are often taken from shaded areas and if players are in direct sun, it can be double figures more than the temperature readings,” said Robbie Parks, an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University and a signatory of an open letter sent to Fifa on the eve of the tournament. “Standing in the sun can be dangerous even at lower temperatures, even above 23C (73F) or 25C (77F) would make me concerned for older adults out there for more than few minutes.”
The letter, signed by heat and public health experts, urged Fifa to adopt more robust protections, explicitly citing Fifpro’s call for games to be halted once wet‑bulb temperatures hit 28C.
Parks acknowledged that air conditioning, later kick-offs and water breaks will help players, but he drew a sharper line for everyone else in the stadium ecosystem. “Shade is super important and hydration is super important,” he said. “You need to allow people to bring in their own water and think about having misters for evaporative cooling. The final is going to be held in New Jersey, and 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.”
Fans wilting, workers exposed
The early rounds have already produced images of supporters struggling in shadeless concourses and open seating, with record‑high temperatures in several host cities. Those in the stands can at least seek shade or leave. Stadium workers, many of them outdoors for hours before kick-off, hauling equipment or managing crowds, often cannot.
That group sits on the frontline of a broader climate reality. Extreme heat is the deadliest weather hazard intensified by the climate crisis, killing more people each year than hurricanes, floods and wildfires combined. The irony is stark: the tournament itself is adding to the problem.
Estimates from Greenly, a global carbon accounting platform, suggest that staging more than 100 World Cup matches across North America will generate around 7.8m tonnes of greenhouse gases. That figure is roughly double the estimated emissions of the previous World Cup in Qatar.
Fifa’s response: tiers, tools and real‑time monitoring
Fifa insists it is ready for what this summer throws at it.
The governing body says it is “committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff” and has embedded meteorologists at match venues to advise on extreme weather. Tournament planning, Fifa says, involves close coordination with host city organisers, stadium authorities and national agencies.
Ahead of kick-off, Fifa agreed a “tiered mitigation model” for extreme temperatures. As heat levels rise, extra layers of protection are meant to come into play.
For players, that means mandatory hydration breaks, constant access to water and electrolyte drinks, and a suite of cooling tools: ice, cold towels, fans, mist and shade. For spectators, elevated temperatures trigger extra measures such as boosted stadium cooling capacity, shaded zones, misting systems, cooling buses and expanded water distribution.
A new medical protocol for treating exertional heat illness has also been introduced, including the use of cooling bags for the first time at a World Cup. Fifa says it will keep monitoring conditions in real time, using wet bulb globe temperature and heat index surveillance, and is prepared to activate contingency plans if extreme weather hits.
The question is whether those layers are enough when the thermometer is no longer the only warning sign, and when a World Cup designed to showcase football’s global reach is doubling as a live experiment in how the sport copes with a rapidly warming world.
