Greenly: 2026 World Cup Carbon Footprint Driven By Transport

The sports industry needs to take on a structural and cultural shift to improve event sustainability.

The newly expanded FIFA World Cup tournament across Canada, Mexico and the United States carries an environmental cost associated with its geographic inflation. 

Transcontinental transport will shape the tournament's carbon footprint. The distributed nature of the 2026 games places greater reliance on aviation, resulting in emissions increases.

The expanded format includes 48 teams for the first time, up from 32 in 2022 – a 50% increase in the number of participating nations that adds 40 additional matches to the schedule.

An analysis by the climate-accounting firm Greenly puts the event's carbon footprint at 7.8 million tonnes of CO₂e.

This is more than double the 3.63 million tonnes of CO₂e reported by the football governing body FIFA for the tournament held in Qatar in 2022.

Aviation demands outpace stadium savings

In previous editions, the construction of permanent physical infrastructure drove the initial environmental impact.

Qatar built seven new stadiums from scratch, creating nearly a quarter of its entire reported footprint through raw materials and construction.

The 2026 host countries avoid this asset-heavy approach by utilising existing NFL stadiums. As a result, stadium renovations fall to 2.3% of the total footprint.

However, the savings achieved on the ground are countered by carbon costs in the air.

“Shouldn't global events serve as an opportunity to think about global issues?” asks Alexis Normand, CEO & Co-Founder of Greenly on LinkedIn.

“In fact, climate-friendly sports events are possible and world competitions should serve to accelerate the energy transition. It's not that hard.

“How would that work? By pushing a Marshall Plan-type of investment strategy to boost low-carbon transport, infrastructure or smart local ticketing.

“But for that to happen, FIFA should introduce best practices on giving climate scores to bidding countries, just like companies do when choosing low-carbon suppliers as part of their RFP processes.”

Greenly attributes roughly 87.8% of all emissions to spectator travel, a structural consequence of spreading 104 matches across a continent without rapid rail networks.

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Greater area to cover

In the 2026 World Cup, matches will be played across 16 North American Cities, from Mexico City to Vancouver. The stadiums cover 12,157,196km².

In Qatar, all eight stadiums used in the tournament were located within an area of less than 1,500km².

Greenly calculates that total spectator travel accounts for 6.82 million tonnes of CO₂e, putting the average emissions per international spectator at 2,407kg of CO₂e. 

With 2.1 million international fans expected to arrive in North America during the course of the tournament, international flights alone generate 5.05 million tonnes of CO₂e.

Domestic transit across the three host nations adds another 1.76 million tonnes of CO₂e.

The scale of squad logistics

Public scrutiny frequently focuses on the transport logistics of competing teams, but Greenly's data show that player travel is one of the smallest components of their footprints.

Total team travel for all 48 national squads accounts for 0.2% of the estimated tournament total or around 17,677 tonnes of CO₂e.

The transit of all players, coaches and staff amounts to an annual footprint of approximately 1,880 people.

The real pressure stems from the millions of fans taking multiple flights to cross international borders between fixtures.

Regional differences, same problem

There are several regional parameters that alter the tournament's operational impact from previous editions.

The host countries' electricity grids are approximately 25% less carbon-intensive than Qatar's grid, reducing the stadiums’ electricity impact despite 40 more matches being played.

Meanwhile, accommodation efficiency differs sharply by region.

Air conditioning in the desert heat caused Qatar's hotels to generate 103kg of CO₂e per person per night, whereas US hotels generate around 18kg per person per night.

Yet these operational savings do not offset the overarching logistics of the tournament.

The event is a test of whether localised grid improvements can counteract continental aviation demands.

FIFA continues to promote reduction, waste management and climate mitigation as its core principles, but hosting an event across such a geographic scale has its inherent difficulties.