The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off Thursday with unprecedented fanfare across the United States, Canada and Mexico, but behind the celebrations, sustainability experts warn the expanded tournament could become the most polluting sporting event in history. With 48 teams competing across 16 host cities stretching from Vancouver to Miami — a distance of over 2,800 miles — and the number of matches increased from 64 to 104, the tournament's carbon footprint is projected to reach as high as 15 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent, nearly double the average of World Cups held between 2010 and 2022. An assessment published last week by global carbon accounting platform Greenly estimates the tournament could generate 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 1.7 million cars, or the yearly emissions of the entire country of Sierra Leone.
The primary driver of this environmental toll is air travel. Researchers estimate that approximately 87% of the tournament's emissions come from travel — chiefly flights — as millions of fans, 48 teams, and international media criss-cross the North American continent. The sheer geographical spread of the tournament makes it inherently more carbon-intensive than the compact Qatar 2022 event, which kept all eight stadiums within 34 miles of each other. 'Increase the number of the teams and then put them in a country where there needs to be significant travel first to get there by air, and then significant travel between the host locations, okay, we're getting rid of one source of negative environmental influence, but then we are increasing it in another,' David Gogishvili, a geographer at the University of Lausanne, told Reuters.
World Cup-related team air travel alone will account for roughly 7.7 million tons of CO₂-equivalent — about 85% of the total, according to an analysis by Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR), the Environmental Defense Fund, and the New Weather Institute. Their peer-reviewed report, titled 'FIFA's Climate Blind Spot,' concluded that FIFA's decision to expand the tournament and spread it across a continent has locked in a climate footprint that no amount of host-city recycling or LED lighting can meaningfully offset. A high-emission scenario could see greenhouse gases reach 15 million tons of CO₂ equivalent, making the tournament one of the most polluting sporting events ever held.
The Heavy Toll on Fans Following Their Teams
For fans, following their national team comes at an extraordinary carbon cost. According to BBC Sport analysis, an England supporter traveling from London to watch their team at every match — should they reach the final on July 19 — could generate a carbon footprint of approximately 3.5 tonnes of CO₂. That is equivalent to heating an average home in the United Kingdom for 19 months, or the production of 34,000 plastic bags. Dr. Stuart Parkinson from Scientists for Global Responsibility described the BBC's estimates as 'deeply disturbing,' noting that 3.4 tonnes of CO₂ 'is equivalent to two to three times the whole year's emissions of an average person in a poorer country such as Haiti. FIFA projects that more than five million fans from around the world will attend the tournament. Environmental advocates say the cumulative effect of so many long-haul flights is unsustainable, especially as the world accelerates toward exceeding the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
An England fan flying to and from London and attending every match would travel nearly two-thirds the circumference of the Earth. Through the group stage alone, supporters could travel more than 1,760 miles between host cities. Should England win their group and reach the final, fans face at least 14,698 miles of travel — generating about 3.4 tonnes of CO₂e per person. Scotland supporters would travel 1,258 miles between host cities during the group stage, with distances multiplying if the team progresses.
Extreme Heat and the Irony of Climate Change
Compounding the irony of a massive carbon-emitting tournament, the United Nations Climate Secretariat issued a warning on June 8 that approximately 25% of matches could be played in dangerously hot temperatures, with players, staff, and fans facing significant health risks. At the Climate Conference in Bonn, the agency emphasized that the tournament will take place against a backdrop of increasing extreme heat waves driven by climate change — the very phenomenon that the tournament's emissions are accelerating. Fan zones, queues, transport routes, parking lots, and outdoor celebrations can expose people to dangerous heat for hours. 'The heat is becoming increasingly intense. This is not a coincidence but a consequence of climate change,' the UN statement said. A separate report from SGR and EDF assessed heat, flooding, and extreme weather risk at all 16 stadiums, finding that six face extreme heat stress due to Wet Bulb Globe Temperatures above 80°F — the threshold where exertion becomes dangerous. Eight of the 16 cities require what the researchers called immediate environmental intervention, with four needing critical intervention. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which will host nine World Cup matches — more than any other venue — experiences 37 days per year above 95°F, with July wet bulb readings that exceed FIFA safety thresholds.
FIFA's Sustainability Promises Under Fire
FIFA has responded to criticism by pointing to its environmental initiatives. At the United Nations COP26 climate summit in 2021, FIFA pledged to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2040 as part of the U.N. Sports for Climate Action Framework. The body told Reuters that 'numerous environmental initiatives related to the tournament are being implemented by FIFA and the Host Cities,' including the use of existing stadiums, encouraging fans to use public transport, reducing reliance on diesel generators, and implementing recycling and food waste programs. Additionally, 13 of the 16 stadiums have achieved LEED green building certification, installing more than 11,500 solar panels to generate clean electricity and eliminating over 5 million single-use plastic products annually. The tournament's use of existing venues avoids the carbon pollution that comes with constructing new stadiums for large-scale events.
However, critics argue that these measures are insufficient to offset the structural emissions arising from the tournament's expansion and its heavy reliance on air transport. 'FIFA is taking a direction that inevitably increases the carbon footprint of events. We are moving toward gigantism and a number of spectator and team movements that is the opposite of what should be done to maintain a livable climate on the planet,' Maël Besson, a specialist in the ecological transition of sport and founder of the agency Sport 1.5, told RFI.
The Carbon Offset Controversy
FIFA's reliance on carbon offsetting has drawn particular scrutiny. The organization's previous claims of carbon neutrality for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were deemed misleading by a Swiss regulator, which found that FIFA was 'not able to provide proof that the claims were accurate' and 'did not set out a plan to define how it will further offset emissions.' Critics argue that FIFA's offsetting strategy lacks transparency and that many proposed mitigation measures rely heavily on future technologies, offsets, or behavioral change rather than hard reductions baked into the tournament's structure. In a report titled 'Poor Tackling,' Carbon Market Watch exposed how tournament organizers used dubious calculations to make the Qatar event appear carbon neutral, ignoring major sources of emissions, especially from construction, and using poor-quality credits unlikely to benefit the climate.
Adding to the criticism, SGR's researchers have urged FIFA to reverse the team expansion, set mandatory environmental standards, and end sponsorship deals with high-emitting companies — including the Saudi oil company Aramco, whose sponsorship is estimated to result in an additional 30 million tons of CO₂e due to energy sales linked to the tournament's promotion. As the World Cup becomes a larger-scale global event, researchers argue that the question is no longer how to organize it successfully, but how to ensure that success does not come at the expense of increasingly costly environmental consequences.
The 2026 World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, with matches across 16 venues in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. As billions of viewers tune in worldwide, the tournament's digital carbon footprint — from live streaming, data transmission, and social media — adds another layer to the environmental impact, though it remains largely unaccounted for in official emissions calculations. Former World Bank governor Yerbol Orynbayev previously told Al Jazeera that 'the noise surrounding the independence of the central bank has somewhat quietened,' while climate advocates continue to press FIFA for binding emissions targets and transparent accounting.
