Why 2026 FIFA World Cup could be the hottest ever - and how El Niño could complicate things further

As if there wasn't enough concern about potentially scorching temperatures at this summer's World Cup, things might just get...a bit more complicated.

Last summer's Club World Cup made clear the difficulties of playing football at some of the hottest times of day in some of the United States' toastier, sweatier climates.

It went far beyond adding in extra drinks breaks: substitutes had to stay inside in their air-conditioned dressing rooms at some games, while others were delayed due to extreme weather.

Possible El Niño effect at 2026 World Cup doesn't mean what you might think

FIFA has tried to mitigate against some of that with their kick-off times at this summer's World Cup.

Their lunchtime and mid-afternoon kick-offs are generally reserved for cities where the temperature is less likely to be an issue - like Seattle or Toronto - or where the stadia are fully indoor and climate-controlled, like Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.

However, there could yet be an additional complication in the former of El Niño.

No, Fernando Torres is not making a stunning return to the Spain squad (ha ha ha ha ha we're funny).

El Niño, for the uninitiated, is a weather pattern that emerges around the Pacific every two to seven years, developing throughout the spring and lasting until the following spring.

While El Niño raises the global temperature overall much of that effect is generated in the southern hemisphere. When it comes to North America, El Niño usually has the effect of making the southern US states cooler but much wetter and more humid...but makes the northern states and parts of Canada hotter.

The reason we mention it is that some forecasts believe that if El Niño hits this year (roughly a 30% chance), it will start a bit later than usual.

On the face of things, that sounds like bad news for the World Cup: might the very venues they have picked to host most of the games at the hottest times of day end up being the worst possible option?

The good news...probably not. As Climate.gov put it in 2023: "People have been asking us what it would mean for summer heat. For most of the United States, the short answer has been 'probably very little'. Or as the experts put it, El Niño doesn’t have a strong summer climate signal for most of the country."

That's not going to stop plenty of misguided stories from emerging over the next few months, though - so if your mates raise it at the pub, simply put on your best Michael Fish jumper and explain to them why El Niño is unlikely to be pose an additional issue.

Still might be absolutely roasting anyway, though.