How Mexican World Cup Stadiums Achieved FIFA’s Environmental Certifications

Because of their scale, soccer stadiums require a fair amount of energy and water. A single match activates all their systems at the same time: field irrigation, toilets, lighting, ventilation, and services for tens of thousands of people. In that time, they also generate large volumes of waste, mainly plastics and food trash. For the 2026 World Cup, the first to be held in three countries in 16 different stadiums, FIFA maintained the requirement that the venues must have LEED environmental certifications, which measure performance in water, energy, and waste management. To get those certifications, several Mexican stadiums needed updates. For a stadium like Azteca in Mexico City, which opened in 1966, this involved major transformations costing tens of millions of dollars. The BBVA stadium in Monterrey and the Akron stadium in Guadalajara, having been built in the last 15 years, were conceived under more modern parameters and already met some requirements. According to Rebeca Ortiz, business development leader of the GBCI in Mexico, which handles LEED certifications, “the aim is for sports venues, which are platforms of global visibility, to have a more positive impact on the communities where they are located.” LEED certifications also involve the evaluation of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the buildings. “We have a team of specialized technicians who verify that everything a project says about its process is true,” explains Ortiz. The main emphasis is on operational performance, where a building’s most significant environmental impacts are generated. GBCI measures energy consumption, water use, air quality, waste management, access to public transportation, indoor environmental quality, and even the thermal comfort of attendees. LEED provides four levels of certification. The first is simply called "certified," followed by silver, gold, and platinum. These are assigned according to the sustainability score a venue obtains. The higher the environmental and operational performance, the higher the level of certification. Stadiums must have at least a silver certification to host a match during the 2026 World Cup. Some stadiums, such as the BBVA and the Akron, have been certified in design and construction since they were built. The former also obtained gold LEED status for operation and maintenance in 2024. The one in Guadalajara is in the process of trying to attain that certification. “The decision to become certified was made in 2022 in the context of preparations for the 2026 World Cup,” explains Alberto Salvador Molina, director of operations of Club de Futbol Monterrey, which calls BBVA home. For BBVA stadium that meant investment in new technology and changes in some processes; for Estadio Banorte (the new name of Azteca), the challenge was to get the stadium up to date without altering its historical value. (During the World Cup, FIFA will call the Mexican venues Mexico City Stadium, Guadalajara Stadium, and Monterrey Stadium in accordance with its policy of eliminating commercial references in the names of stadiums.) Unable to modify its structure, Mexico City stadium officials concentrated on seeking certification of its operation. This included replacing old toilets that used up to 15 liters (about 4 gallons) per flush and finding suppliers to provide things like compostable cups. Less visible aspects were also updated, such as air quality in internal operating areas, where technical and administrative teams work permanently. Eventually, the stadium was certified LEED platinum. In 2016, BBVA Stadium obtained LEED certification in the design and construction category. The stadium was built to be efficient in its use of water and electricity. It also used native vegetation to reduce the need for irrigation. The stadium was also given 3.8-liter (1 gallon) flush toilets and was built with materials designed for low environmental impact. “All this already gave us an advantage,” says Job Rocha, director of the Asesores Verdes consulting firm, which helped with the stadium’s certification. “We didn't have to invest so much in infrastructure, because many things were already there from the beginning.” But to certify its operation, the stadium had to demonstrate that its strategies not only existed but could be measured and verified in practice. This involved incorporating automated systems to monitor energy consumption, water use, and air quality. When it comes to energy, one of the most visible actions was the migration to LED lighting. Parking lots, the main façade, and training areas are now equipped with this technology. Using LEDs reduces electricity consumption by 30 percent. BBVA Stadium also transformed daily practices such as waste management. The challenge was not only to separate waste, but also to ensure that all suppliers for everything from food to cleaning products operate under sustainable criteria. Club de Futbol Monterrey began incorporating environmental conditions into its vendor contracts, from recyclable packaging to reusable or compostable products. “We even ask them for documents indicating the final destination of waste,” says Molina. The stadium has eliminated around 90 percent of its PET plastic during matches, through soft drink dispensing machines and the use of reusable cups. As for water, it increased the number of meters from 6 to 20, and fine-tuned irrigation with predictive analysis to define when and how much to irrigate. That efficiency is helpful, but large volumes of water are still required. The official regulations of this year’s World Cup require that the matches be played on natural grass, as it is considered to offer better conditions for player performance. And the watering is done with potable water rather than treated water. Ever since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, FIFA has had guidelines for stadiums’ environmental efficiency, such as the responsible use of water, but some of its own requirements are not always consistent with the sustainability goals the organization promotes. “Before, irrigation was done with reclaimed water; today, potable water has to be used to take care of the grass,” Rocha explains. Potable water is both more expensive and of limited availability in a city notorious for water shortages. Artificial turf fields also require water for purposes like temperature control, using about 900 liters (238 gallons) per day. But natural grass needs roughly 50 times more, requiring irrigation of up to 50,000 liters (13,209 gallons) per day. In comparison, the average daily water consumption per person in Mexico is 150 liters (40 gallons), which means the pitch uses the daily water supply of 333 people. Certifying the operation of the BBVA Stadium was not just a matter of complying with indicators, but of transforming operational habits in a city with complex environmental conditions. Ensuring environmental quality in Monterrey, with high levels of pollution and extreme temperatures, was a major task. The indoor environment is one of the certification criteria. Although the stadium is open for the most part, it had to offer healthy conditions in enclosed areas such as offices, dressing rooms, and VIP areas. “One of the most important challenges was environmental quality, but also comfort: that people were comfortable, in terms of their health, temperature, and even psychologically,” Rocha says. To achieve this, ventilation systems were implemented with special filters, pollutant sensors, and turbines that improve the air flow in the stands. The stadium invested more than 1 million pesos (about $57,400) in the carbon dioxide extraction system. BBVA also went through a cultural shift as part of the certification process. Coordinating more than a thousand suppliers, raising staff awareness, and changing daily habits is work that continues long after certification. Sustainability in stadiums is not just a technical goal. “We learned that it's not about meeting a checklist or using technology. It's about culture. It has to be a way of life inside and outside the stadium,” says Molina. Beyond the stadium walls, however, the conversation takes on a different tone. The neighbors of these large sports venues often do not see the benefits of environmental certifications. In the vicinity of the Banorte Stadium, residents of the Santa Ursula Coapa neighborhood have been demonstrating for months, questioning the use of water and the priority of works related to the World Cup. Although these standards seek to reduce the World Cup’s environmental footprint (less water, less energy, less waste), the question remains as to whether they are sufficient to reduce the impact of venues designed to concentrate large-scale consumption. The 2026 World Cup will be, in many ways, the first test of this. This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.