Eastern heat threatens FIFA World Cup players and fans

Published 3 July 2026 · sports

Saturday's (July 4 2026) afternoon knockout round game between France and Paraguay in Philadelphia could be this World Cup tournament's hottest, posing dangers to the

Saturday's (July 4 2026) afternoon knockout round game between France and Paraguay in Philadelphia could be this World Cup tournament's hottest, posing dangers to the region as well as athletes and tens of thousands of fans in the open-air stadium. A heat wave is expected to continue across the eastern and central U.S. through the end of the week, with peak heat indexes — which combine air temperature with humidity — between 100 F to 115 F (37.78 C to 46.11 C), according to the Weather Service. High night temperatures will bring little relief and records could be broken. Earlier this week, French players cooled off from temperatures that hit 90 F (32.22 C) with field sprinklers during their match against Sweden in New Jersey. Concerns about extreme heat during the games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico have been growing for months, with some scientists saying that FIFA's heat safety guidelines are “inadequate” and “impossible to justify," even for heat acclimatized players. For spectators, that could mean games are slower and less intense. The world has warmed roughly 1.26 F (0.7 C) in the last three decades since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup, according to the climate monitoring group Berkeley Earth. Global temperature increases intensify and make heat waves and other severe weather more common. The humid heat engulfing the country, as well as parts of Canada, would've been “virtually impossible” without climate change, scientists with the World Weather Attribution said Friday(July 3 2026).

The 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar was moved from summer to winter because of the extreme heat threat, and last year, temperatures soared at the Club World Cup. The soccer players’ global union warned that extreme heat would likely be a bigger problem at this and the next World Cups. One of the hottest World Cup games was in 1994 in Orlando, Florida, when temperatures hit 110 F (43.33 C). Heat hits people from both their surroundings as well as while their bodies warm during exercise. That makes it harder to cool down when it's really hot and humid, said Bharat Venkat, director of the Heat Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles. “So when you’re exerting yourself on a particularly hot day, the likelihood of experiencing heat related illness or even death is much higher,” he said. Intense exercise on a sizzling day can lead to extreme fatigue, impaired performance, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, cramping and dehydration, all symptoms of exertional heat illness. Exertional heat stroke requires immediate medical attention and is the third leading cause of death in athletes. When the wet bulb globe temperature — which includes temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind — reaches above about 95 F (35 C), people lose their ability to cool off quickly, said Ryan Calsbeek, professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, and "the physiological mechanisms just break down.” Heat-induced confusion could also influence a player's decisions and could determine a match's outcome, he said.