The 2026 World Cup will break records on and off the field: 48 national teams, 104 matches, and three host countries. And, according to several independent analyses, it will also break the emissions record. Behind the spectacle lies a very concrete lesson about how the footprint of an event is measured (and how it should not be communicated).
Your company doesn’t organize a World Cup, but it does hold events: launches, trade shows, conventions, activations. And more and more clients, investors, and regulators are asking about their impact. The World Cup case shows, on a large scale, the same successes and mistakes that determine whether measuring an event serves to comply and communicate, or remains an empty promise.
A historic tournament… and a historic carbon footprint
It will be the first World Cup played across an entire continent: 16 host cities spread across Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and 40 more matches than in previous editions. More teams, more matches, more fans, and much more complex logistics.
That scale comes at a climate cost. An analysis by Scientists for Global Responsibility, together with the Environmental Defense Fund, projects more than 9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent: almost double the average of the last four World Cups and considerably more than Qatar 2022 (estimated at up to 5.25 million). The carbon accounting platform Greenly calculates around 7.8 million tonnes, more than double what FIFA itself reported for Qatar.
CO2e (CO2 equivalent) is the unit that adds up all greenhouse gases by converting them to their equivalent in carbon dioxide, so they can be compared in a single figure.
Where the most significant part of the 2026 World Cup carbon footprint really lies: transport
When people think about the impact of a large event, attention usually goes to the stadiums. But the numbers tell another story: Greenly estimates that about 87% of emissions will come from transport. International visitors would be just a third of attendance, yet they would generate around 74% of travel emissions, due to long-distance flights.
The geographic dispersion amplifies the problem: unlike Qatar, where the stadiums were just a few kilometers apart, in 2026 many fans will fly thousands of kilometers between venues. The lesson is clear: what weighs the most is not always the most visible. In carbon measurement, that almost always lives in Scope 3, the value chain emissions (suppliers, travel, attendee transport).
There is a point in favor of the 2026 World Cup carbon footprint: since most of the stadiums already exist, infrastructure represents only 3.1% of emissions, compared to 24.6% for Qatar, which built seven new stadiums. Making use of what is already built reduces the impact, something that also applies when your company chooses a venue for an event. We saw it up close measuring a massive festival: what we learned with the Estéreo Picnic Festival.
What FIFA proposes (according to its official strategy)
FIFA published a Sustainability and Human Rights Strategy for the 2026 World Cup, organized into four pillars (social, environmental, economic, and governance) and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Its environmental pillar defines seven objectives with concrete initiatives:
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Measure and address the 2026 World Cup carbon footprint, starting with a greenhouse gas inventory.
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Cleaner mobility: promote public transport, cycling, and walking among fans, more efficient air and land routes, and electric and hybrid vehicles in the fleet.
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Sustainable construction: certification of stadiums and purchase of more efficient materials.
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Circular economy: reduce food waste, reuse materials and temporary infrastructure, and improve recycling.
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Water efficiency, renewable energy, fewer diesel generators, and biodiversity promotion.
In addition, each of the 16 host cities must develop its own environmental plan, which is largely implemented independently of FIFA.
There is a revealing detail. The strategy was published in 2024 and FIFA revised it in early 2026 to, in its words, improve the clarity of the information in line with evolving regulatory frameworks. In practice, it talks about measuring and reducing impacts, but does not set a numerical emissions reduction target for the tournament and avoids repeating the carbon neutrality promise. It’s no coincidence: at Qatar 2022 FIFA promoted itself as the first carbon-neutral World Cup, and in 2023 the Swiss Fairness Commission declared that claim unfounded. The lesson FIFA itself seems to have learned is the same one that applies to your company: it is more solid to measure and reduce with data than to promise a label you can’t later sustain.
The lesson for your company: estimate your carbon footprint well before promising
At CarbonBox we measure the carbon footprint of events, and we know it is not a mere formality: it is an enormous job of gathering transport, energy, waste, and supplier data, and making it traceable. That is precisely why the World Cup is a good mirror. These are the lessons you can indeed apply:
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Measure what is material first. If 87% is in transport, that’s where your energy should go, not on the easy but small data point.
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Set reduction targets, not just offsetting targets. Offsetting without reducing does not withstand the scrutiny of a client or a regulator.
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Be transparent about the method. A figure you cannot explain or back up is a figure that sooner or later will be questioned.
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Make use of what exists. Choosing venues, suppliers, and logistics with criteria reduces the impact before you have to offset it.
A well-measured event is not a cost: it is an advantage. It allows you to reduce real expenses (energy, logistics), respond to clients and investors with data, and communicate without fear of being accused of greenwashing. It is the difference between turning the footprint into strategy or leaving it as a requirement.
The 2026 World Cup demonstrates that no event is green just by announcing it: it is green when it measures what truly weighs, sets reduction targets, and backs it up with data. If your company organizes events and wants to communicate its impact credibly, the first step is to measure it well.
At CarbonBox we measure your event’s carbon footprint with a traceable, audit-ready methodology. Schedule a free consultation atcarbonBox.
[1] FIFA - 2026 World Cup Sustainability and Human Rights Strategy, environmental pillar (official source): strategy - environmental pillar
[2] BBC Sport - World Cup 2026 most polluting ever claims report (study by Scientists for Global Responsibility and Environmental Defense Fund; includes the Qatar 2022 background and the Swiss Fairness Commission ruling): see
[3] Greenly - FIFA World Cup 2026: real carbon footprint (estimate of ~7.8 M tCO2e and 87% from transport): see
[4] Forbes / We Don't Have Time - FIFA World Cup: climate is the loser, highest impact ever (coverage of the same study): see