All eyes will fall on the US tonight, as Spain and Argentina battle it out to win the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament.
Tonight’s final will be hosted at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where temperatures are forecast to reach 28°C. This is two degrees above the threshold at which FIFPRO, a global representative organisation for professional footballers, recommends implementing enhanced cooling measures.
And yet the tournament’s highly-anticipated finale will end on a much cooler note compared to earlier matches.
Analysis from Reuters found that more than one in four games have experienced dangerous heat conditions - with 27 matches exceeding the Web Bulb Globe Temperature of 28°C. This accounts for factors such as humidity, as well as air temperature, and is the threshold where FIFPRO recommends delaying or rescheduling the game.
This year’s game has clashed with back-to-back heatwaves that have sent global temperatures soaring 1.39°C above pre-industrial averages. The US is no exception to the hot spell, having sweltered under 40°C temperatures in the previous weeks.
