How FIFA is Planning to Mitigate Drone Risks at the 2026 World Cup

In the winter of 2022, a record 1.5 billion people tuned into the FIFA World Cup Final. Additionally, nearly 3.5 million people made the journey to Qatar to watch the games in person, making the tournament one of the most popular sporting experiences in the world.

In 2026, the World Cup will welcome millions more fans to games in 12 cities across North America. One of the individuals responsible for ensuring the safety of both players and fans is G.B. Jones, Chief Safety & Security Officer of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

One of the major threats to security at the World Cup, as well as many major sporting events around the world, is drones. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) such as drones can carry harmful objects, disrupt games, and be hard to detect, all of which GB and his team are aware of before the World Cup begins in June 2026.

Before IDGA’s 2025 Counter UAS Summit and the World Cup, G.B. sat down with IDGA to discuss how his team is preparing for UAS threats and how they plan to mitigate them.