As the 2026 Fifa World Cup gets under way, workers essential to running the tournament could face temperatures exceeding 90F (32°C) in several host cities, raising serious concerns about heat-related illness and injury. Forecasts show much of the United States experiencing above-normal summer heat, and southern venues such as Miami, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta are expected to see conditions well above 85F, with some match-day highs potentially reaching 93F (34°C) in Dallas. “It’s going to be extremely hot, and you just cannot leave people unprotected or you’re going to deal with a lot of injuries,” said Jonathan Alingu, co-executive director of Central Florida Jobs With Justice, which has been pushing for worker protections at the Miami games. “Or, God forbid, something even worse.”
Risks across the workforce
Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather, and workers at previous World Cups have suffered and even died in sweltering conditions. Experts warn this year’s tournament – the first held across three nations (the US, Mexico and Canada) and the second in North America since 1994 – could be the hottest since the inaugural event in 1930. Since the 1994 World Cup, the planet has warmed by more than 1F, according to climate data.
A study published this week by researchers led by Andrew Grundstein, a geographer and climatologist at the University of Georgia, assessed historical weather conditions using wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure that accounts for air temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and cloud cover. The analysis found that thousands of workers are expected to labour in conditions exceeding recommended heat-exposure limits, putting them at risk of heat exhaustion and other illnesses. “If you think about the delivery people, the law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, people selling concessions or collecting tickets, a whole network of people are going to face heat-related hazards,” Grundstein said.
The study identifies several specific vulnerabilities. Workers carrying heavy loads such as concession items, performing physical labour including construction or field maintenance, or wearing extra fabric such as mascot costumes are at greater risk. Those spending long periods in direct sunlight – for example, security personnel – may also face elevated dangers. Stadiums without air conditioning, including venues in Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Kansas City, are likely to be more hazardous than those that are enclosed and cooled, such as Houston’s fully air-conditioned stadium.
Although southern host cities pose the greatest risk, the authors caution that even cooler locations should prepare for unusually high temperatures. In Boston, for instance, a forecast for a match on 13 June 2026 indicated highs near 90F with low humidity. Across the US, exposure to environmental heat caused an average of 40 worker deaths per year from 2011 to 2022, and more than 33,890 workplace injuries from 2011 to 2020, according to federal data. Construction workers are 13 times more likely to die from heat-related illness than workers in other industries. Global estimates from the World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization suggest approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths occurred annually between 2000 and 2019.
Some World Cup workers will be unionised and may have stronger protections. In Kansas City, SEIU Local 1 has secured guaranteed access to water, cooling towels and fans during temperature spikes through labour-management meetings with the stadium, said union spokesperson Luisangel Rodriguez. But, he added, those protections are “never enough when it gets hot”.
Many workers, however, will be temporary contract hires who may not be acclimated to local heat. “When you live in a hot area, your body adjusts to it. You learn to sweat more efficiently, the body’s able to regulate its temperature better,” Grundstein said. “But when people just move here from a cooler area, your body hasn’t adjusted yet … which can make you more vulnerable.” Workers returning after an absence of 14 days or more may require similar acclimatisation protocols. Temporary workers may also be less likely to speak up about unsafe conditions, Alingu noted, adding that his coalition is pushing for heat-safety training, worker support and cooling hubs at Miami’s matches and fan festivals.
Evening kick-off times – which Fifa has scheduled for many matches to avoid the worst heat – may not be enough. Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, an immigrant rights organiser and policy coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee in Miami, warned: “Even if the games start after 6pm or after 7pm, here in Miami it can still be dangerously hot during that time.” Alingu added that stadium workers often begin shifts hours before kick-off, potentially during the hottest part of the day. Fifa did not respond to a question about shift start times.
Protections in place
Fifa does not directly control employment conditions, which are governed by host countries, local organisers, stadium authorities and contractors. But it can promote safety through host-city agreements, venue-operating requirements and contractor standards, said Margaret Morrissey-Basler, a senior adviser of occupational safety at the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute, who co-authored the recent study. “It is also important for city governments and the organisations themselves to ensure these protections are in place,” she said.
In an emailed statement, a Fifa spokesperson said the organisation is “committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff”. Climate-related risks are assessed as part of overall tournament planning and managed in close coordination with host cities, stadium authorities and national agencies. To avoid the worst heat, Fifa scheduled many matches for late afternoon and evening. Venues will deploy cooling measures including shaded areas, misting systems and expanded water distribution. The organisation will also implement work-rest schedules, station trained medical personnel at every match, monitor weather conditions in real-time and rely on a taskforce of heat experts.
For the first time at a World Cup, mandatory three-minute hydration breaks have been mandated midway through each half of all 104 matches, regardless of weather conditions – a measure Fifa says prioritises player welfare. The tournament’s human rights framework, published in July 2024, includes a section on workers’ rights covering occupational safety and health, fair wages and grievance mechanisms. Some host cities, such as Dallas, are planning dedicated Worker Support Hubs at fan festivals where workers can raise concerns confidentially. Seattle is partnering with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking to offer online training on human trafficking prevention for up to 2,500 employees.
How effective these protections prove will depend on implementation, say worker advocates. “I hope, we hope, that they are able to follow through on all that,” said Rodriguez of SEIU Local 1. “Let’s see.”
Ongoing concerns
Labour activists fear Fifa’s efforts will not eliminate heat-related risks, particularly given the regulatory landscape in key host states. Only seven US states have enforceable occupational heat safety standards, and just two of them – California and Washington – are hosting World Cup matches. Florida and Texas, both of which will host matches, have enacted laws that explicitly ban local municipalities from mandating heat protections for workers. Florida’s law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis and effective from July 2024, prevents cities and counties from requiring employers to provide heat exposure abatement beyond state or federal law. Miami-Dade County had been considering a heat protection ordinance but withdrew it because of the legislation. Florida has no specific state laws mandating protections for outdoor workers against extreme heat.
“We have tried to pass ordinances that would have guaranteed protections to workers including at the World Cup, but unfortunately this state has preempted a lot of that,” said Mendez-Zamora. “That gives you some idea of how hard it can be to make sure good working conditions are in place.”
At the federal level, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) does not have a specific heat stress standard. It enforces heat safety through the “General Duty Clause”, requiring employers to provide a workplace free from recognised hazards. A proposed federal rule – with triggers at an 80F heat index and a high-heat trigger at 90F – is in development but not yet finalised. “Since there aren’t any federal regulations protecting workers against heat, in states without specific protections, workers are basically at the whim of their employers,” said Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary of labour at Osha. Although Osha renewed a National Emphasis Programme on workplace heat hazards in 2025, under President Trump the agency weakened its enforcement measures. “Without a robust staff or true federal regulations, there is not much the agency can do to require employers to protect workers from heat,” Barab added.
Officials from Miami-Dade County, the committee overseeing the fan festival and Fifa have not responded to demands from Alingu’s coalition for heat-safety training, worker support and cooling hubs. In the absence of strong protections, labour rights groups say they will continually monitor working conditions throughout the tournament. “We’re now in a mode of needing to observe and report what’s happening,” said Alingu. “We can’t be oblivious to the unsafe conditions and we can’t just assume things are going to be fine … not in this kind of weather.”