That was the central theme of the recent United Nations Football for the Goals Member Convening, which brought together climate experts, campaigners and football organisations to examine how rising temperatures are reshaping the sport.

Football’s Global Platform

Opening the session, Robert Skinner, Deputy Director and Chief of Partnership and Global Engagement at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, stressed football’s unique ability to connect global issues with local communities.

“Football holds an unparalleled power to unite communities, but we are reaching a critical threshold where climate change threatens the very fabric of the game,” he said. “This World Cup must serve as a turning point where global awareness translates into direct, localised climate action.”

His comments reflected a broader warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who has described extreme heat as one of the most urgent global threats of our time.

For football, that challenge is no longer theoretical. It is already reshaping how and where the game is played.

Losing Sight of the Goal?

One of the most thought-provoking contributions came from Katie Cross, CEO and Founder of Pledgeball, whose organisation has launched Route ’26: Losing Sight of the Goal, a documentary series examining the environmental realities surrounding the World Cup.

The series follows football presenters Laurence McKenna and Alex Moneypenny as they attempt to trace a potential World Cup journey across North America without flying, while exploring the wider climate implications of football’s largest event.

Cross highlighted a growing disconnect between the spectacle of global tournaments and the realities facing local football communities.

“This summer’s tournament frequently feels like a festival in the middle of a pandemic, one that is sponsored by a virus,” she told delegates. “The contrast between the sheer exuberance of a mega-event and the harsh reality facing grassroots players experiencing extreme heat and drought on the ground is something the football community can no longer ignore.”

The concern is echoed by the wider Where Football Lives campaign, which warns that extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke and poor air quality are increasingly disrupting the community pitches and public spaces where football is most deeply rooted.

As the campaign notes, football does not only live in stadiums. It lives in parks, playgrounds, streets and local clubs — many of which have far fewer resources to adapt to a changing climate.

The Science Behind the Heat

If Cross focused on lived experience, Dom Goggins from the UNFCCC communications team focused on the science.

Drawing on recent research and climate modelling, Goggins explained that traditional temperature readings often fail to capture the true risks faced by athletes and spectators. Instead, experts increasingly rely on Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which combines heat, humidity, sunlight and wind exposure to measure physiological stress.

“We are looking at a situation where twenty-six matches are expected to cross performance-limiting thresholds,” Goggins explained during the webinar. “This is not simply summer weather. It represents a significant physiological challenge for players, officials and supporters.”

Research highlighted during the discussion suggests that 26 of the tournament’s 104 matches could be played in hazardous heat conditions, while several could approach thresholds where postponement becomes a consideration.

The implications extend beyond elite performance. Recent analysis from the Global Heat Health Information Network argues that sport governance is being reshaped by extreme heat faster than many organisations are prepared for, creating new responsibilities around worker safety, spectator protection and event planning.

Beyond the Stadium

The FFTG webinar deliberately widened the discussion beyond elite football.

Former French international Mikaël Silvestre reflected on the responsibility of high-profile athletes and ambassadors to use their platforms to raise awareness and inspire action. Football, he argued, remains one of the few truly global cultural forces capable of engaging people who might otherwise never participate in climate discussions.

John Wroe, CEO and Founder of Street Child United, highlighted how climate impacts disproportionately affect vulnerable young people, particularly in lower-income communities where access to safe sporting facilities is already limited.

Meanwhile, Annabel Short from the Centre for Sport and Human Rights outlined the importance of ensuring that fan experiences and community engagement around mega-events remain grounded in principles of safety, inclusion and human rights.

Oliver Steinglass of Design FC showcased how creative engagement and youth-led initiatives can help transform climate awareness into practical action, demonstrating how football can be used as a vehicle for education, storytelling and community resilience.

Together, the presentations reinforced a common theme: climate change is not simply an environmental issue. It is increasingly a participation issue, a health issue, a human rights issue and a governance issue

A Defining Test for Football

The 2026 World Cup may ultimately be remembered for great goals, dramatic matches and iconic moments. Yet it is also becoming a visible demonstration of how climate change is beginning to reshape global sport.

The question facing football is no longer whether adaptation is required, but how quickly the sport can respond.

As António Guterres has argued, protecting people from extreme heat requires action on multiple fronts: protecting vulnerable communities, safeguarding workers, strengthening resilience through science and data, and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.

“Extreme heat is having an extreme impact on people and planet. The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures,” Guterres warned as part of the UN’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat.

For football, the message from the Football for the Goals convening was clear. Extreme heat is no longer a future risk. It has arrived on the pitch, in the stands and throughout the communities where the game lives.

The challenge now is ensuring that football remains playable, accessible and resilient for generations to come.