World Cup Faces Extreme Heat Risks as Players’ Union Threshold Breached

The World Cup always promised to be hot. It is turning out to be something else entirely.

An analysis of the first round of group matches has found that two games were played in heat so severe it crossed a threshold that the global players’ union, Fifpro, has previously said should trigger delays or postponements. Four more were staged in cities where conditions outside also breached that level, with air conditioning the only real shield between players and the brutal North American summer.

The numbers are stark. The Guardian’s review of the first 24 fixtures – every team’s opening game across the US, Mexico and Canada – shows that Saudi Arabia’s clash with Uruguay in Miami was played in the most punishing conditions of all. Sweden v Tunisia in Monterrey was next on the list among stadiums without air conditioning.

Both evening kick-offs. Both played in wet-bulb temperatures of 28C (82F) or higher.

That figure is not a throwaway metric. Fifpro has long argued that matches reaching a wet-bulb temperature of 28C should be delayed or postponed, warning of serious risks to players’ health. Asked about the specific conditions at this World Cup, the union declined to comment, but the science has not changed. This tournament is on course to be the hottest World Cup since the competition began in 1930.

What wet-bulb really means

Wet-bulb temperature is the measure that strips away any illusions created by a cooling breeze or a patch of shade. It combines air temperature, humidity and cloud cover to show how effectively the human body can cool itself by sweating.

At a certain point, sweat simply stops doing its job. It cannot evaporate fast enough. The body overheats. Illness can arrive quickly; in extreme cases, death.

To understand the scale of the problem, the Guardian used data from government weather agencies in the US and UK and applied a wet-bulb calculation used by authorities in countries such as Australia and Canada. The result: six of the first 24 World Cup matches were played where wet-bulb temperatures hit 28C or more.

Those games 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 fixture in Dallas, again England v Croatia, where the outside wet-bulb temperature climbed to almost 35C (95F)

Houston and Dallas are among the venues fitted with air conditioning, which has blunted the worst of the heat inside. In Dallas, when England met Croatia on Wednesday, the outside conditions were the fiercest yet, but the stadium systems dragged the internal temperature down to about 22C (71F).

Outside, it was a different story.

Fans wilting, workers exposed

Record highs across several host cities have left supporters baking in exposed concourses and open plazas, with little protection from the sun. For stadium workers, the risk is even more acute. Many spend hours on site before kick-off, moving equipment or managing logistics in the full glare of the day.

Current Fifa guidelines call for cooling breaks if temperatures reach 32C (89F), with the option to delay or suspend matches left to competition organisers. At this World Cup, drinks breaks have often been introduced earlier, a tacit acknowledgment that the thermometer is no longer the only measure that matters.

On the eve of the tournament, a group of heat and public health specialists wrote an open letter urging Fifa to go further. They backed Fifpro’s stance that games should be considered for postponement when wet-bulb temperatures hit 28C.

Robbie Parks, an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University and a signatory of that letter, underlined the gap between official readings and real-life exposure.

“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 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.”

Parks accepts that air conditioning, later kick-off times and water breaks will help those on the pitch. His concern stretches beyond the touchline.

“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.”

Fifa’s plan for a roasting World Cup

Faced with forecasts of searing heat, Fifa has tried to get ahead of the issue. Kick-offs have been pushed back in some cities. Mandatory hydration breaks have been written into match protocols. Meteorologists are stationed at venues to track conditions in real time.

The governing body says it has agreed a “tiered mitigation model” for extreme temperatures, with extra measures triggered at specific thresholds. For players, that means ready access not only to water and electrolyte drinks but also to ice, cold towels, fans, mist and shade zones around the pitch.

For spectators, Fifa says that once temperatures climb, stadiums will “activate additional cooling capacity”, rolling out shaded areas, misting systems, cooling buses and expanded water distribution. A new medical protocol for treating heat exertion is also in place, including the use of cooling bags for the first time at a World Cup.

The wider climate cost

All of this is happening against a backdrop that is impossible to ignore. Extreme heat is the deadliest climate-related hazard on the planet, killing more people each year than hurricanes, floods and wildfires combined.

This World Cup will add to the problem it is trying to shield itself from. More than 100 matches across three vast countries mean more flights, more travel, more energy use. Greenly, a global carbon accounting platform, estimates that this tournament will generate about 7.8m tonnes of greenhouse gases – roughly double the emissions of the previous World Cup in Qatar.

Fifa insists it is “committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff”. It says it will continue to monitor wet-bulb globe temperatures and heat indices in real time and is prepared to use “established contingency protocols” if conditions deteriorate further.

For now, though, the picture is clear. The World Cup has stepped into the furnace, armed with air conditioning, misting fans and cooling towels. The question is no longer whether heat will shape this tournament, but how far football is willing to bend before it redraws the line on when, and where, the game can safely be played.