The Guardian analyzed the 72-game group stage and found nine matches played in severe heat and humidity. Conditions the players' union Fifpro has flagged as thresholds for delays or postponements. Another 13 games occurred in cities above that benchmark, though some stadiums had air conditioning. The analysis underscores a widening gap between tournament scheduling and climate reality.
This transcends player comfort. Heat exposure is a workplace safety issue for athletes, a health risk for fans in stadiums and surrounding areas, and a structural problem for FIFA as summer tournaments collide with hotter summers across the US and beyond. Broadcasters want prime-time windows. The climate does not negotiate.
Football still treats extreme heat like bad luck. It should treat it like fixture design. Air-conditioned stadiums protect the broadcast product inside the bowl but do nothing for training sessions, travel, outdoor queues, or supporters crossing parking lots in brutal humidity. If FIFA keeps staging summer spectacles in hotter places, kickoff times and calendars become the entire argument.
Filed to the World desk · Jun 30