The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup is held every four years. Much like the Olympic summer games, it is typically held in summer and hosted in a different country each subsequent year. The next one is scheduled for 2026, hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Figure 1: FIFA World Cup 2022. [4]
Footy Feeling the Heat
This tradition has come to be expected by fans around the world, however FIFA is facing calls to reconsider the dates for the championship in the face of heat warnings. Professor Piers Forster of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futres in the UK is among those to have voiced concern, calling for the tournament to be held in cooler months and/or locations. Climatologists from Imperial College in London have echoed these concerns, for both players and fans alike.
It’s not just outsiders, Enzo Fernández of Chelsea has called for FIFA to avoid afternoon kickoffs at the world cup next year, on the basis that morning games are slightly cooler for the players and fans. However, FIFA is likely motivated by peak viewing times as much as anything else.
Fears over the risk of playing in the heat in the USA are not unfounded. The Guardian has reported that at least 11 American football players at the student and professional level have died of heat stroke between 2018 and 2022.
Similar tragedies have been seen in High Schools in the USA as well, with the Associated Press reporting that 58 players have died from exertional heat stroke between 1992 and 2024 (figures cited as being from the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Conneticut.
Changes already Adopted
FIFA has reportedly made some changes to its extreme heat protocol, such as extra breaks in play and more water at the side of the pitch, along with more cooling for team benches. It is hard to know whether these measures will be sufficient given the increasing risk as the world gets hotter.
Changing the Date
In 2022, FIFA did hold the tournament over November and December in Qatar due to increased risk of heat over the summer. However, they appear reluctant to do that again, at least for the time being.
Future World Cup Locations
This issue will likely continue to come up at subsequent tournaments. The 2030 World Cup is set to take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, all of which have seen temperatures above 40C this summer. So far, FIFA has been dismissive of this concern, saying that “weather conditions are difficult to predict … but are unlikely to affect the health of players or other participants”. It may be that this is not enough to allay concerns in the long term, but no drastic changes appear forthcoming.
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References
[1] Dunbar, G and Borenstein, S (2025), FIFA urged to rethink the World Cup calendar as summer heat becomes increasingly dangerous (link), Euronews, last accessed August 2025.
[2] Singh, M (2023), American football season is getting hotter. Young players are dying (link).
[3] Casey, M (2024), Hotter summers are making high school football a fatal game for some players (link), Associated Press, last accessed August 2024.
[4] Korea Culture and Information Service (November 2022) on WikiMedia Commons. Last accessed on 11 August 2025. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2022_FIFA_World_Cup_Korea_Uruguay_02.jpg
