The FIFA Club World Cup is still underway in the United States, but organizers of the tournament are likely already looking ahead: In just a year, the country (alongside Canada and Mexico) will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. After that, sports-event organizers in the United States will make another pivot, hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The quick succession of events offers the United States an opportunity to shape a sustainable sports legacy. It can do so by building on France’s planning philosophy that it used for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But that legacy should expand beyond the host countries and the competitions that will unfold in North America over the next few years. The world’s major economies—which usually swap the honor of hosting the world’s biggest sports events—should also support Africa’s sports sector and its sustainability.
Starting with its initial bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, Paris promised to host the “greenest-ever Games,” with the main goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent compared to previous editions. To accomplish that, Paris heavily relied on existing sites and minimized new construction. Ninety-five percent of Olympic venues were preexisting or temporary facilities. Moreover, new construction (such as the Olympic Village) was planned with post-Games conversion in mind.
The City of Light set the bar high. But, according to the Paris Summer Olympic Games Organizing Committee’s Sustainability and Legacy Post-Games Report, Paris achieved its goal. In doing so, the city showed that it is possible to think long-term about sustainability amid the short-term fever that accompanies the Olympic Games.
In the end, the Games brought hope in uncertain times, set a precedent for sustainable sports, and offered a strong model of what green global sports events can look like. Future editions must aim for ambitious environmental goals, particularly by conceiving sustainable sites or reusing preexisting venues.
Despite being co-hosted by three nations, with potentially high environmental costs, the organizers of the 2026 World Cup appear to be attempting to follow Paris’ model. All sixteen host cities will use existing venues (one of the sites, the Azteca Stadium, was previously used in the 1970 and 1986 World Cups in Mexico), making renovations to these sites to accommodate the influx of fans. FIFA has also announced key environmental initiatives, emphasizing the need for sustainable global sports events.
As for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, Los Angeles has already announced it will rely on existing sites—one of which was also used during the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. Under its “Radical Reuse” plan, Los Angeles aims to host the Olympics without building a single new permanent venue, building on Paris’ legacy and marking a giant leap for sports sustainability. The United States could go further, pushing the International Olympic Committee to turn the “Radical Reuse” concept into a required commitment for future Olympic bids. Such pressure could help ensure that global sports sustainability is not just a short-term trend started by Paris but a torch passed by Los Angeles to future host cities.
From the World Cup to the Olympics, the biggest sports events offer an opportunity to solidify the Paris 2024 model as a major shift in the sustainability legacy of global sports. But as the West pushes forward on setting these standards and in shaping the sustainability conversation, Africa is searching for its spot.
Indeed, Africa is the “missing ring of the Olympics,” the only continent to never host the Games. The continent faces numerous challenges, such as governance issues, a lack of government support or appropriate infrastructure, and the loss of African talent to better-funded countries. The financial costs associated with hosting Olympic Games on the continent are believed to be high. As a result, few African nations see their bids to host advance. In addition, many countries face difficulties in participating in the Olympics when hosted elsewhere.
As for the FIFA World Cup, Africa has only hosted the event once, in South Africa in 2010. The issues weighing down on Africa’s Olympics prospects also help explain the continent’s track record in world soccer. The 2022 World Cup sparked an insightful conversation when Morocco became the first African country to reach the semifinals. The Atlas Lions’ soccer performance became a diplomatic win for the continent, but also raised once again the paradox of Africa’s sports legacy: Africa is brimming with talented athletes, but it is held back by its systemic issues. Without change, the continent is fated to remain excluded from the global sports discourse (mirroring its experience in international organizations, such as the United Nations Security Council).
Among several forms of support, Africa’s partners—several of them being the countries that often host the Olympics—should invest in Africa’s sports infrastructure. With the continent lacking the infrastructure needed to host major sports events and leagues, African countries and their partners should use this funding to set a sustainable foundation, constructing new infrastructure with sustainability in mind from the start. Doing so would be a game changer, not just for countries’ bids to host global sports events, but also for education, gender equality, and social cohesion: In a sense, it would be a game changer for the continent’s future.
Of course, African countries have already gotten the momentum started: Some, not waiting for investors or partners, have built sports infrastructure, noting how powerful the impact on their societies may be. For example, Senegal’s Dakar Arena and Abdoulaye Wade stadium embody this African vision of global sports. In addition, both infrastructures strengthen the continent’s stature for hosting future global sports events.
That is why Africa’s sports sector needs more funding than ever. The momentum is building and must be sustained. Senegal will host next year’s Summer Youth Olympics, and Morocco will co-host—with Portugal and Spain—the 2030 FIFA World Cup. As the spotlight slowly shifts to Africa, the continent’s sports movement is taking off. As it does so, Africa’s global partners can support the continent in carrying a legacy of sustainable global sports.
Malcolm Biiga is a senior consultant at Havas Paris.
Note: Havas ran marketing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the author had no involvement in the effort.
The Africa Center works to promote dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and to redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.
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Image: Moroccan fans celebrate the qualification of the Moroccan national team for the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar after their victory against Spain. Photo by Benoit Durand/Hans Lucas via Reuters.