Introduction
Football continues to be the most-watched sport worldwide, boasting 3.5 billion loyal fans across different television platforms [1]. As football continues to grow on a global stage, its environmental impact grows alongside the sport with an increasing number of stadiums built, games played, and fans traveling across the globe to watch the sport’s major annual events.
In the midst of the 2026 World Cup, the interconnectedness of football and the impacts of climate change becomes more apparent by the day. Major organisations like FIFA have proposed various sustainability and policy goals that aim to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate targets, but the question remains: are these commitments enough?
How climate change affects football
Football, like many other outdoor sports, is subject to an array of potential climate hazards, worsened by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and elevated global temperatures. Extreme heat continues to raise concerns for both players and fans, given that player performance often decreases when temperatures surpass 82 ºF/28 ºC [2]. In addition to the impacts of heat stress on athletic performance, extended periods of high-intensity athletic activity in high temperatures can also lead to dehydration, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and heat exhaustion. Increased air temperatures also create an ideal breeding ground for air pollution, with increased risk of ozone (smog) formation and wildfire threats [3].
How football worsens climate change
As athletes continue to experience the worsening impacts of climate change, the sustained growth of football across the globe exacerbates the issue at hand. Fan travel, stadium use and construction, merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals have resulted in a global carbon footprint of around 64-66 million tCO2e.
Sponsorship deals with major polluters — primarily oil and gas, airlines, and fast food companies — constitute an estimated 75% of the sport’s global carbon footprint [4]. Sportswashing, the latest greenwashing phenomenon, was on display in more ways than one during this year’s World Cup. One of the 2026 World Cup’s biggest sponsors, Saudi Aramco, also happens to be the world’s largest corporate emitter [5].
The stadiums themselves also contribute to the problem, with each game requiring high volumes of water and electricity and generating massive amounts of waste, often in the form of single-use plastics [6]. The 2026 FIFA World Cup generated an estimated 23 million pounds of waste across all locations [7].
A case study: FIFA World Cup 2026
With the FIFA 2026 World Cup in full swing across North America, Mexico, and Canada, there is no better opportunity to analyze the interconnectedness between global football and climate change on the world’s biggest stage.
This year’s World Cup emissions are estimated to total around 9 million tCO2e, nearly doubling the historical average for the event. Increased emissions are due largely to the influx of international travel, the distance between stadiums, and increased domestic travel due to a lack of public transit. Of the 9 million tons, 7.72 million tCO2e will result from air travel, and the other 1.3 million tCO2e will result from the remaining sources (stadium power requirements, sponsorships, merchandise sales, etc.). Upper estimates go as high as 13.7 million tCO2e, with air travel presenting the greatest range in potential emissions [8].
FIFA’s host cities for this year’s competition are facing high degrees of heat stress, with the frequency of extreme heat days tripling across ten host cities since the last time they hosted a World Cup game in 1986 (Mexico) and 1994 (U.S.) [9].
To combat heat stress in host cities, FIFA requires each city to present a heat action plan prior to the match taking place [3]. Additionally, FIFA has implemented two mandatory three-minute hydration breaks throughout each game in an effort to minimize negative health impacts on athletes, as well as increasing the number of days between each match to increase athlete recovery time [3]. Hydration breaks served dual purposes, functionally providing time for athletes to hydrate while simultaneously adding additional time to highlight event sponsorships. FIFA organizers have also scheduled matches in regions more prone to extreme heat later in the day in an effort to battle extreme temperatures [3].
FIFA’s sustainability commitments
FIFA’s 2026 Sustainability Strategy centers on the following pillars: social, economic, environmental, and governance. Each host city is required to develop and implement an environmental action plan in coordination with its stadiums, allowing cities to design and achieve environmental objectives surrounding the tournament. Host cities must outline the ways in which they will meet FIFA’s sustainability requirements, as well as methods by which they can leverage their host status to implement independent environmental projects [10].
FIFA’s sustainability strategy more specifically aims to encourage sustainable infrastructure practices, measure greenhouse gas emissions, leverage renewable energy sources, reduce local air pollution, reduce waste, promote biodiversity, and raise awareness around key environmental issues [11].
Despite continued sustainability messaging and successful mitigation of emissions by reducing stadium construction, the impacts of continued air travel and a lack of public transportation between and around event venues have effectively offset any efforts to minimize emissions [12]. Efficient lighting, recycling, composting, and water conservation upgrades can be seen across stadium locations, but the way millions of people move around within the host country often has a far greater impact on collective greenhouse gas emissions [12]. Further, FIFA President Gianni Infantino utilized private aviation throughout the duration of the competition, flying enough miles to circle the globe 2.5 times [13]. The carbon footprint of Infantino’s private aviation stands in stark contrast to FIFA’s sustainability promises, creating tension in the gap between the organization’s messaging and demonstrated action.
Conclusion
Given the sport’s global reach, football has a unique opportunity to drive both awareness and positive change surrounding the climate crisis. With 72% of Gen Z football fans stating they care about the environment, football maintains a fan base ready to bolster a movement towards a greener game [14]. Therefore, provided with a willing audience, the commitment to real, effective sustainability practices lies with FIFA. Seeking sponsorships and partnerships with organizations grounded in sustainable practices and evaluating game locations and resulting transportation requirements constitute a strong first step towards a more sustainable World Cup.
