Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández has said the playing conditions at the Club World Cup are “very dangerous” and urged FIFA to “change the schedule” at the 2026 World Cup to avoid putting players at risk in the tournament next year.
Extreme heat during the Club World Cup in the United States has led to several high-profile players and coaches voicing their concerns over the conditions.
Global players’ union FIFPRO has shown data indicating that three games should have been delayed or postponed due to the heat exceeding their threshold of 28 degrees Celsius on the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature gauge (WBGT).
Chelsea’s semifinal win against Fluminense in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Tuesday saw temperatures of 96 degrees Fahrenheit when the game kicked off at 3 p.m. ET.
With the Premier League team set to face Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s final the same venue at 3 p.m. ET, Argentina midfielder Enzo said he has struggled to cope with the conditions.
“Honestly, the heat is incredible,” Enzo said. “Honestly, I don’t know [how to explain it].
“The other day I got a bit dizzy during a play. I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy. Playing in this temperature is very dangerous, it’s very dangerous.
“Moreover, for the spectacle, for the people who come to enjoy the stadium, for the people who watch it at home. The game, the speed of the game is not the same, everything becomes very slow.”
The United States will co-host next year’s 48-team World Cup with Canada and Mexico during June and July 2026.
And Enzo said that the tournament must be reassessed to ensure that the heat does not impact on the competition next summer.
“Let’s hope that next year they change the schedule,” Enzo said. “At least so that it remains a beautiful and attractive football spectacle, right?”
Former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, who now heads up FIFA’s global soccer development, has admitted that the summer heat during the Club World Cup has affected play.
“The heat in some games was a problem,” Wenger admitted. “We tried to combat that with cooling breaks and watering the pitches during breaks. We learned a lot on that front.”
Looking ahead, Wenger said FIFA is considering using covered stadiums in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Houston to host early matches in next year’s tournaments.
He also said that FIFA analysts have studied the impact of heat on player performance, finding that temperatures above 35 C (95 F) affect high-speed running and sprints more than overall distances covered.
“Certainly next year, there will be more roofed stadiums as we have to follow the TV schedule. We are learning to be better equipped to deal with these conditions,” Wenger said.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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