For a Norwegian citizen men’s soccer team, Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against England will be a first in many ways. As the Scandinavian team prepares for the biggest match in its history, it will face almost unimaginable conditions at home: an unbearable combination of heat, humidity and scorching South Florida sun that, scientists warn, can push the human body to its limits.
South Florida’s mix of sturdy sun, scorching air and high humidity – amplified by a cloud of dusty air from the Sahara moving across the Atlantic through the state – will expose Northern European players to levels of heat stress rarely seen in their home countries.
Scientists quantify this heat stress by calculating the moist ball temperature. In addition to air temperature, the indicator takes into account humidity, which limits the evaporation of sweat from the skin; wind, which can act as a cooling factor; and sunlight intensity, as sunlight directly increases skin and body temperature.
Saturday’s game is expected to be played in an unusually high WBGT temperature of around 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius). The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that sports be stopped when the temperature exceeds 82 degrees Fahrenheit because at this level people have difficulty cooling down and body temperatures begin to rise rapidly. FIFA itself states that if WGBT temperatures exceed 30 degrees Fahrenheit, players and officials must take breaks after 30 and 75 minutes of play to nippy off with towels soaked in ice water.
While both teams will train to adapt to the surroundings, according to Matt Maley, a researcher in ergonomics and environmental physiology at Loughborough University in the UK, the conditions could make for a more sluggish match. He told WIRED: “This weekend in Miami we may actually see players reduce the number of sprints or the distance they run.” It would be a far cry from the high-octane Premier League and high-energy Eliteserien matches that English and Norwegian football fans are accustomed to.
But the real danger is ambition, says Maley. “Motivation sometimes overrides what the body tells the brain, so that’s where we get into the danger zone because people are motivated to run the same distance, do the same number of sprints, and they can run the risk of heat exhaustion.”
Miami, among other American destinations, is becoming more and more popular hotter in recent years because concrete and the greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuels trap heat.
A coalition of scientists from five continents warned FIFA and World Cup participants in May of the growing medical risks of heat stress. “We are concerned that current FIFA guidance on mitigating heat stress is insufficient and puts players at risk of heat injury during the 2026 Men’s World Cup.” – they wrote in a statement. open letternoting that the three-minute hydration breaks are too miniature for players to hydrate and nippy down. They recommended doubling hydration breaks and postponing any games scheduled to be played in WBGT temperatures of 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Scientists at the Modern Weather Institute say fans also face dangers including heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke as a result of heat stress in the stadium. warned the report added that older fans and people with pre-existing health problems were particularly at risk. They warned: “The heat stress crisis during the 2026 World Cup threatens to turn what should be football’s biggest celebration into a public health emergency.”