As the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfolds across North America, an investigation by L’Espresso has laid bare its staggering environmental cost: at least nine million tonnes of CO₂ — double the emissions of Qatar 2022, making it the most polluting tournament in football history.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has become a symbol of the excess. In the first week alone, he logged over 21,000 kilometers on his private jet, attending two matches a day across the sprawling tri-nation format. His personal carbon footprint from travel alone is estimated to equal that of 50 average people over an entire year. The organization’s promises of environmental sustainability, made during the bidding process, remain conspicuously unfulfilled.
Former German international and 2006 World Cup organizing chief Philipp Lahm offered a blunt assessment: “The World Cup is being sold.”
Meanwhile, the tournament’s human toll is already mounting. In Amman, Jordan, a stampede at a fan gathering during the Algeria–Jordan match killed one person and injured eight. The tragedy unfolded in Hashemite Square, where thousands of Jordanian fans had gathered to watch their team’s 2-1 defeat. Emergency crews transported nine people to hospital; one later died from injuries sustained in the crush. [4][5][6]
