Brown researchers have developed a tool to track players, fans and the risk of disease spread during the World Cup

 As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching, researchers from Brown University have created a tool to help track infectious diseases that may be transmitted by teams, players and fans. Developed by epidemiologist William Goedel of Brown's School of Public Health, this tool shows all the World Cup sites and the locations where people will gather. Users can sort upcoming soccer matches to get information on team training locations, hotels and large fan gatherings. Goedel said: “When large numbers of people gather for large events such as sports tournaments, we should be concerned about public health challenges such as infectious disease outbreaks.” This year's championship is extraordinarily complex: Instead of a single host country as in the past, 48 teams will play in 16 locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico, which Goedel says involves an unprecedented level of coordination and movement. State health departments typically track infectious disease outbreaks using tools such as hospital registries and wastewater monitoring. The new tool is intended to support these systems. "This tool is intended to help understand how teams and fans may move over the next few weeks. This type of information is invaluable for public health experts so that if an outbreak occurs, they can determine where it may have started and where it will spread." Goedel built this tool based on information from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), which organizes World Cup events. It contains information about the first rounds of the competition and matches from later rounds, and will be updated as the tournament progresses. Goedel explained how the tool works: "If a case of an infectious disease, such as measles, occurs in Miami, public health experts will be able to see which teams have recently played in Miami and where they are going, as well as which teams will be stationed or training in Miami in the near future." While the tool's intended audience is public health experts and health departments that need to map team movements, Goedel believes it will be just as helpful for fans who follow their favorite teams. Goedel noted that experts are less concerned about rare infectious diseases that attract media attention and more about common and easily transmitted ones. “Given the large number of people from around the world, we are more focused on COVID-19, measles and norovirus,” Goedel said. "We have seen cases of measles in the United States in recent months. Every state that will host a team or match during the World Cup has had cases of measles reported this year." Public health experts are also vigilant about possible biological attacks: "We live in a tense geopolitical situation where this is a real concern, but that's what public health preparedness is all about - being able to anticipate threats during these large gatherings," Goedel said. Goedel is a member of Brown's Pandemic Center and leads the center's work to expand capacity todata-driven decision-making among local health department staff and their community partners. Since joining Brown in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has assisted the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) with emergency preparedness and response. This tool was developed and maintained by William C. Goedel of Brown University School of Public Health's Pandemic Center. As the World Cup approached, Goedel and Pandemic Center Director Jennifer Nuzzo reached out to their colleagues at RIDOH to see how they could help. Researchers noted that this major global sporting event is complicated and confusing: FIFA has changed stadium names depending on location, so nearby Gillette Stadium is referred to as Boston Stadium, even though it is closer to Providence, the capital of Rhode Island. Another challenge, from a public health perspective, was tracking game locations and team movements. “I'm a spatial scientist: my specialty is creating maps to help make decisions.” Goedel said. "I thought I should quickly create something that would allow me to identify and track stadiums, teams, and dates. This exploration tool arose from an organic need for a Google Maps-style interface to track what was going on." The interactive maps were created using online mapping software called ArcGIS Online, which Goedel teaches students in a geographic information systems course at Brown. “Most of the information underlying our tool is available on FIFA, but not in a usable form.” Goedel said. “We simply 'extracted' data from the FIFA website - directories of where teams would be staying, game schedules, official fan zones - and turned it into something that would allow people to combine this information and search it.” The graduate student helps Goedel update the maps as new data becomes available. These types of maps are not uncommon, Goedel says: He created many of them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, in the year before major international sporting events such as the World Cup or Olympic Games, local health departments work with national partners to plan and prepare. “Due to the nationwide lockdown earlier this year, there were delays in the disbursement of funds intended to support public health measures.” Goedel said. “The past few years have seen a large number of employee departures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and their budgets have been significantly reduced, leaving fewer people at the national level to coordinate these types of activities.” While games won't start until Friday, June 11, the tool is already being used, and not just in Rhode Island. The STAT Network, a network of public health scientists established by Brown University, uses this tool, as well as several health departments in other host states. The tool has also been incorporated into the Pandemic Center's weekly infectious disease tracking report. However, public health experts may be disappointed ifThere will be no serious cases of infectious diseases during the World Cup. “Health departments do a great job of preparing for these types of events in that they identify people who get sick and isolate them from the general public.” Goedel said. "There were real concerns about the Zika virus at the 2014 World Championships and the 2016 Olympic Games. The 2022 World Championships raised concerns about Middle East Acute Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing raised serious concerns about COVID-19. At previous mass events There have been outbreaks of measles, botulism, influenza and norovirus at sporting events, but in almost all cases these have not been mass cases.” However, Goedel is cautiously optimistic about this year's World Championships. "I would like the main public health challenges to be about 'hangovers' after celebrating your favorite teams' victories." - he said.