The 2026 World Cup is barreling toward kickoff as the largest sporting spectacle in history, but the roar of the crowds is being drowned out by a mounting chorus of alarm.
As the tournament expands across three countries, critics say the scale isn’t just ambitious, it is environmentally reckless, and the message that football can keep growing without consequence is deeply worrying.
A Tournament Outgrowing Its Conscience
Spanning the United States, Mexico and Canada, the 48-team, 104-match extravaganza will span a continent and a calendar like never before.
What FIFA billed as a showcase of global reach now looks, to many experts, like a blueprint for the most carbon-intensive World Cup yet — a mega-event whose footprint could eclipse everything that came before it.
Heat, Hazard and Hospitality
Climate risk compounds the carbon argument. Fourteen of the 16 host cities face vulnerability to extreme heat during the tournament window, raising stark questions about player and fan safety.
Afternoon kick-offs in many venues could be "virtually unplayable," say the experts, turning stadia into pressure cookers for tens of thousands of spectators, staff and media.
Planning or Panic Control
Promises of sustainability and "measurable benefits" in the original bid now sound hollow to critics who see last-minute contingency talk rather than serious mitigation.
Suggestions to tweak kick-off times or rely on roofed arenas have been floated, but concrete, comprehensive plans for protecting fans and workers from heat are still thin on the ground.
Players, Fans and Frontline Warnings
This is not an abstract debate. Players and coaches have flagged dangerous conditions before, with recent tournaments marred by heat-related collapses, lightning delays and weather chaos.
For fans, the worry is not just comfort: prolonged exposure to extreme heat on travel days and matchdays threatens real health risks for ordinary supporters.
The Cost of Expansion
Beyond human safety, the tournament’s greenhouse gas tally is a political and moral flashpoint. For those who study sport and climate, the 2026 model signals a worrying trend: expansion driven by commercial appetite rather than environmental stewardship, at a time when global carbon budgets demand restraint, not enlargement.
Voices Calling for Change
Former players, environmental advocates and scientists urge football’s institutions to use their power responsibly.
They argue football can, and must, lead by example — rethinking calendars, curbing unnecessary travel and prioritising sustainable hosting standards — or risk alienating fans and imperiling the very communities the game seeks to celebrate.
