With carbon emissions exceeding 9 million tons, why is the 2026 World Cup drifting further from its carbon neutrality pledge?

In the scorching summer of 2026, the FIFA World Cup was in full swing across North America. With 48 teams, 104 matches, a 39-day tournament, and 16 venues spanning three countries, every statistic shattered World Cup records. Yet, as this "largest ever" football spectacle set new benchmarks in tournament history, another set of figures also reached record highs—albeit with troubling implications.

According to estimates by French carbon accounting firm Greenly, the carbon footprint of this tournament is approximately 7.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent. The "FIFA Climate Blind Spots" report, released by the UK think tank New Weather Institute in collaboration with the Global Scientists for Sustainability (SGR), the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund, and other organizations, presents even more severe figures—minimum 9 million tons. In the most pessimistic scenario, emissions could peak at 15 million tons.

What does 7.8 to 9 million tons of carbon emissions mean? For reference, an official assessment report released by the OECD in September 2025 shows that the carbon emissions for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics were 2.085 million tons. The 2022 Qatar World Cup emitted 3.63 million tons, while the 2018 Russia World Cup emitted 2.17 million tons. The carbon emissions for this World Cup are approximately four times that of the Paris Olympics. The Global Responsibility Scientists Organization points out that this emission level is equivalent to the annual emissions of a country with a population of nearly 1 million (such as Cyprus) or the total emissions from 6.5 million cars driving for one year.

From Promise to Reality: An Unbridgeable Gap

The FIFA has made commitments to carbon neutrality at a higher level. In 2021, at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, FIFA officially joined the United Nations' "Sports for Climate Action" framework and made two key pledges: to reduce its own emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had previously promised that the 2026 World Cup would "set a new benchmark for sustainability and environmental protection.".

However, the gap between commitments and reality continues to widen. Team expansion, increased matches, and events spanning the entire North American continent are entirely at odds with emission reduction goals. The SGR report indicates that out of FIFA's 18 climate actions committed in 2021, only 2 were completed, 2 showed limited progress, and 14 had no visible progress, with an implementation rate of just 11% over three years.

More alarmingly, following criticism from Switzerland's Federal Ethics Committee on the Environment for misleading claims about the "carbon neutrality" of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, FIFA has no longer made similar carbon neutrality commitments for the 2026 tournament.

87% of "flight carbon": Structural Challenges of Geographical Dispersion

Why are carbon emissions so high? The answer lies in the sky.

This edition of the tournament spans three countries—Mexico, the United States, and Canada—with 16 venues spread across vast distances. The straight-line distance between the northernmost venue in Vancouver, Canada, and Miami, USA, exceeds 4,500 kilometers. Additionally, North America lacks an efficient high-speed rail network connecting these locations—a stark contrast to the 2024 European Championship, which reduced transportation-related carbon emissions by approximately 21% by leveraging Germany and its neighboring countries' advanced rail systems.