'It's not safe' - England star wants World Cup change after collapsing on pitch
Rachel Daly has urged football bosses to rethink the 2026 men's World Cup schedule saying heat could make games unsafe.
Daly, 31, helped the Lionesses reach the World Cup final this summer after a stellar debut season at Aston Villa. The England international previously played in the United States, where back in 2017 she collapsed during a domestic game as a result of heat exhaustion.
The incident came when she was representing Houston Dash against Seattle Reign in Texas, with the game taking place at over 32 degrees celsius, after kicking off at 3pm. Daly was stretchered off and although she recovered, the incident highlighted how playing games at the height of the American summer could be extremely dangerous.
USA, along with Mexico and Canada will co-host the men's FIFA 2026 World Cup with games taking place from June to July. The previous men's World Cup in Qatar was switched to winter due to safety concerns over staging football matches in extreme heat, with temperatures in the Asian country regularly exceeding 40 degrees in the summer.
Speaking ahead of England's clash with Scotland at Sunderland in the UEFA Women's Nations League, Daly said she believes the heat and humidity could pose a danger to players in 2026.
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"It absolutely could be (a problem)" Daly said. "I think the humidity is what gets you the most. Pair that with the heat and it's not the best.
"Especially any midday or 3 o'clock kick offs, that is something I think should be avoided because it is not safe.
"The temperatures rise so high over there. So for me, from my personal experience, it is not a safe place to be. So hopefully they (FIFA) can take the timings into account."
Canada did host a summer women's World Cup back in 2015, but with climate change making extreme temperatures more likely in the summer, the 2026 men's tournament could be impacted severely. The summer just gone saw 27 days straight in Texas where temperatures were above 38C.
Daly also called for the women's calendar to be looked at ahead of England's first Nations League game. Sarina Wiegman's side will take on Scotland just over a month after their World Cup final against Spain.
Rachel Daly was a key spark for England at the Women's World Cup (Getty Images)Some of the players have had minimal rest in the intervening period, with Arsenal duo Alessia Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy featuring in a Women's Champions League qualifier just over two weeks after the game in Sydney. There is also a new WSL season just around the corner, starting five days after England's game against the Netherlands on Tuesday.
"I think the calendar is something that needs to be addressed moving forward," added Daly. "You've seen a significant amount of injuries in the past year or so, which you can only think may be a part of the calendar and the excessive amount of games we have during the season.
"But as of right now, we're not in a position to minimise game time we've got, so we just have to tackle it head on and put ourselves in the best position physically and mentally to play.
"We've got to get straight back into it. We're all ready to go again."
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