As England’s men’s team begins 2026 World Cup preparations in West Palm Beach, players are set to use high-tech palm-cooling devices to cope with dangerous heat across U.S. host cities—while their tournament opener against Croatia approaches on June 17.
England’s World Cup training started this week in West Palm Beach, Florida—and the first challenge isn’t tactical at all. It’s the heat.
With the forecast in multiple host cities expected to be punishing. the England men’s national team is planning to use high-tech palm-cooling devices during training in the United States. The idea is simple: cooling the palms can significantly lower core body temperature. which can matter for in-game recovery and performance. The devices are expected to be used in training sessions and during planned water breaks during World Cup matches.
The timing matters because the tournament schedule includes conditions that medical and event planners have flagged as risky. Of the 104 matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 67 are set to take place at locations and times that come with potential danger for heat illnesses. with 39 matches considered high risk.
England’s first match comes quickly. The team will open its World Cup run against Croatia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Texas—the home of the Dallas Cowboys—on June 17. Arlington’s forecast shows a high of 90 degrees with a “realfeel” of 97 degrees on that date. AT&T Stadium has a roof, which should help limit direct exposure.
Group L play continues a few days later. England will face Ghana at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 23, and then take on Panama at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on June 27.
England is coming off its quarterfinal run at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and expectations for this squad are to at least equal that finish—or go further—over the next month. In the betting landscape, England also holds the third-best odds to win the nation’s first World Cup since 1966.
Between the experimental cooling method and the league-wide heat risk numbers, the same picture keeps forming: recovery and endurance may decide matches just as much as strategy does—especially when the calendar places games under conditions players can’t fully control.
England 2026 FIFA World Cup West Palm Beach palm-cooling device heat illnesses AT&T Stadium Arlington Croatia Ghana Panama Gillette Stadium MetLife Stadium