The FIFA World Cup 2026 games kick off on Thursday.
The Conversation discussed preparing for the event, which is being held in 16 cities across Canada, Mexico and the United States.
University of Hawaiʻi planning professor Karl Kim heads a group that's been funded to look at the weather risks of excessive heat, and the threat of storms from lightning and thunderstorms to tornadoes, as well as flash flooding and fires.
Kim spoke to HPR about what it takes to prepare for such a massive international event.
The Conversation was also joined by Tom Chandler of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University and Daniele Spirandelli, a former University of Hawaiʻi Climate Resilience Scientist now with the firm Haley & Aldrich in Portland.
Kim told HPR that each host city has unique weather-related conditions and different capabilities to manage severe weather events.
Kim directs the FEMA-funded National Disaster Preparedness Training Center to develop and train first responders and emergency managers. While others focus on counterterrorism, Kim's group focuses on natural hazards like weather.
“Our focus is much more on risk management and the use of various technologies to support planning, decision-making, and preparedness for events like the World Cup, but also we have to deal with other hazards and threats,” he said.
Chandler has been collaborating with Kim and UH for many years, providing an East Coast perspective on regions. He said that they’ve been working with the New York, New Jersey Stadium, known as MetLife Stadium, to prepare for several World Cup matches.
“There will be several matches at MetLife in June and July, including the final match on July 19,” Chandler said. “The Meadowlands, as a region of New Jersey, is prone to flooding, intense thunderstorms, and heat waves in the summer months. So, there's an enormous amount to prepare for.”
Chandler added that he, Kim, and Daniele Spirandelli have been working to bring in field experts in meteorology, urban planning and behavioral psychology to better understand fan behavior during large-scale sporting events in extreme weather.
Spirandelli said that the group has been evaluating the likelihood of weather-related hazards expected in particular areas during the summer months.
“There are other hazards in other locations, such as lightning and tornadoes," Spirandelli said. "Those are very hard to predict, and those could come on very quickly, so we similarly need to be ready and prepared and have our situational awareness in terms of weather conditions changing rapidly.”
The public has been banned from bringing in their own water bottles, so Spirandelli said the group is also focusing on extreme heat hazards and ensuring they have enough water available.
“There are really valuable lessons in terms of what we can do to reduce the risk, and it's about information and communications, it's about training and preparedness, it's about knowing what to do and who's making the decisions related to postponing games,” Kim said.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be held from June 11 to July 19.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 9, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
