Football General Manager
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- Infantino says World Cup will use covered stadiums during day
- Severe weather been an issue during CWC this summer
- Only four WC venues have roofs and air conditioning.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that stadiums with roofs will be used for afternoon matches at the 2026 Men’s World Cup amid concerns of severe weather. Criticism of venues in the United States has surfaced during the FIFA Club World Cup this summer, with extreme heat and severe weather playing a role in each round of the competition so far.
“Every criticism we receive is a source for us to study and analyse what we can do better,” Infantino told reporters at a news conference in New York. “Of course, the heat is an issue. Last year, at the Olympic Games in Paris, games during the day, in all sports, took place in very hot conditions.
“Cooling breaks are very important, and we will see what we can do, but we have stadiums with roofs, and we will definitely use these stadiums during the day next year.”
Reigning European Champions Paris Saint-Germain take on Chelsea in Sunday’s CWC final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in a match that kicks off at 3 p.m. ET with a predicted temperature of 84 degrees (28.8 Celsius).
The Blues‘ semifinal victory over Fluminense on Tuesday at MetLife saw the temperature during the match reach 96 degrees. The Global Players Union FIFPRO has said that at least three games during the competition should have been either delayed or postponed due to extreme heat.
Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s final, urging FIFA to reassess the schedule for the World Cup next summer, claiming the extreme heat made him “dizzy,” and that it was “very dangerous.”
Severe weather, including thunderstorms, has also delayed or suspended matches for long periods this summer. World Cup venues that have roofs and air conditioning include Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, ATu0026amp;T Stadium in Dallas, NRG Stadium in Texas, and BC Place in Vancouver – four of the 16 stadiums that will host matches in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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The tournament has faced some criticism due to an expansion to 32 teams and adding even more matches to an already congested footballing calendar. Players who compete in the Club World Cup final will have less than one month to recover until the start of the 2025-26 regular-season campaign.
Infantino defended the tournament, citing positive feedback from participating clubs.
“I’ve been speaking to teams from Europe who came here and all have been very happy,” he said. “And some teams from Europe who didn’t qualify called us at FIFA and asked if they could participate.”
He acknowledged the absence of some major clubs but reiterated the importance of the current qualification system.
“Of course [we] would love Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, AC Milan, and Barcelona here, but there is a qualifying criteria,” he said. “We will see what the future will bring us. We will make this better, we have had criticisms, and we must do better.”
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Infantino opened the door to possible changes, including adjustments to how many teams each country can send.
“Should the country limits be two or four teams?,” he said. “There are many elements we can think about. For now, we go ahead again with this in 2029, and we will see.”
Still, he emphasized that the tournament’s success surpassed his expectations.
“I respect everyone and every opinion of everyone,” he said. “I had my own opinion before the tournament and this opinion has become even stronger now. It has been a huge, huge, huge success and the golden era of football has started.”
Sunday’s Club World Cup final kicks off at 3 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on DAZN.
