On June 20, temperatures in the Netherlands in northwest Europe will be cool with forecasted highs in the 60s. By contrast, the Netherlands' national soccer team will be in Houston that day during the World Cup, where temperatures will approach triple-digit heat.
Of course, the Netherlands' team, which will play Sweden at NRG Stadium on June 20, won't actually be playing in that infamous Houston heat and humidity. The stadium's retractable roof will be closed during each of Houston's seven matches.
"This is to help ensure that players and fans enjoy a comfortable 72-degree temperature," Hussain Naqi, NRG Park’s General Manager, said. "This is particularly critical since the six of our seven matches will start at noon."
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which begins June 11, will last for 39 days in one of the hottest times of the year. As a result, many of Houston's World Cup affiliates are preparing how they can in order to keep cool.
Throughout the entirety of the World Cup, Houston's host committee will hold a 39-day fan festival in East Downtown, where every match of the tournament will be streamed at an outdoor venue. In order to keep cool, the matches and live entertainment will all take place under what organizers are calling a "magic sky," which renderings depict as something like a net or canopy over the crowd.
"Heat mitigation is a huge thing for us," Patti Smith, director of the Fan Festival, said in a press conference on Monday. "This magic sky will be able to provide shade for patrons, visitors, and fans watching from that area.”
The festival will have four air-conditioned spaces. Free water stations will be throughout the grounds, as will four cooling stations, with fans and misting machines. Medical staff will offer cooling towels and ice for guests throughout the festival, and a full medical clinic will be on site to treat injuries or illnesses, including heat-related illnesses.
Beyond the Fan Festival, other medical officials say they're prepared to handle a potential surge in patients, as hundreds of thousands of fans come to Houston.
"As we get countries that maybe have never experienced a Texas summer, or the level of heat, it's just important to call out: are you staying hydrated, are you doing the right things for your body to not experience heat exhaustion?" Adam Lee, director of emergency management at Memorial Hermann Health System said. "And if you do, I would call out, are you going to the right sites of care? Meaning, not all medical emergencies require you to go to the emergency room."
The World Cup host committee is also investing in revitalizing a hike-and-bike path running from East Downtown to NRG Park. Other organizations are also investing in reviving outdoor spaces ahead of the World Cup. Many of them include ways to keep cool.
"Around Houston, even in the summer months, you can see outdoor places that are still vibrant with people, right?" Kris Larson, president and CEO of Downtown Houston+, said. "If you go to our parks, as an example, Hermann Park in July is still very, very busy. And the reason for that is there are natural amenities — things like a tree canopy and landscape elements — that help to mitigate and absorb heat."
Ahead of the tournament, Downtown Houston+ is revitalizing some downtown projects, including a seven-block stretch of Houston’s Main Street downtown, which will be a pedestrian-only walkable retail and restaurant space.
"The projects that we’re rolling out are really meant to introduce shade, ideally trees first," Larson said. "Where infrastructure limits our ability to do that, we are now introducing these shade structures. And these are going to be a new part of our street scape vernacular that you’ll see out there."
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