The 2026 World Cup tests every framework of public safety. With matches spread across 11 cities, millions will visit sporting arenas and public spaces, creating an unprecedented convergence of physical, digital, and environmental risks. These risks include those driven by newer technologies like unmanned aircraft systems, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

However, if law enforcement agencies can effectively harness these sophisticated technologies, they can also play a significant role in mitigating threats. Cities must be equipped to rapidly anticipate and respond to threats, strengthen interagency coordination, and deploy next-generation air-domain detection to ensure the safety and security of all attendees.

Public Safety Depends on Interagency Coordination

Mega-events demand seamless coordination across law enforcement, yet it’s frighteningly common for their technologies to be fragmented and communications siloed. In fact, many law enforcement organizations can’t even share the same radio frequencies — something that has been a limiting factor since 9/11. 

These challenges are magnified by the geographic spread of the World Cup. Matches across multiple cities will require coordinated action among the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as their local law enforcement counterparts across host cities.

A common operating picture (COP) where agencies can see the same information at the same time can bring people, assets, and activity into a shared view to improve situational awareness and rapid decision-making. By merging real-time security data from feeds collected by drones into a single, secure environment, commanders can understand a comprehensive picture of activities in a wide area surrounding a stadium or festival site. With this technology, law enforcement agencies can aggregate live drone video and data feeds and push them directly to command centers, providing real-time visibility on portable devices.

A single event like the Super Bowl requires coordination across dozens of agencies. An international, multi-city event like the World Cup makes coordination exponentially more complex. From a birds-eye perspective of the venue to a digital twin of the stadium, agencies need to see what’s happening as it unfolds — tracking movements, monitoring risks, and making faster, more informed decisions. Instead of piecing together fragmented updates, decision-makers using a COP operate from the same live picture, allowing teams across jurisdictions to anticipate issues, coordinate responses, and act with confidence in high-pressure environments.

Managing Drones as a Tool and a Threat

Today even basic, non-weaponized drones can become lethal and pose as both a threat and a tool. A six-pound drone flown into a crowd at 60 miles an hour is now a projectile. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, 355 unauthorized drones were detected, and more than 50 were seized. Mega-events like the 2026 World Cup create a particularly high-value target environment, and as a result, security officials can’t afford fragmented or delayed drone detection. 

Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS) capabilities can provide critical visibility before, during, and after an event. They help teams identify airspace blind spots, map likely flight paths, and understand what’s happening above a venue in real time. This level of awareness relies on advanced airspace monitoring that turns radio-frequency activity into actionable intelligence by detecting low-flying drones, locating operators, and monitoring complex airspace without emitting signals.

The CUAS can evaluate aerial perspectives of crowds and become eyes in the sky for all agencies to view simultaneously, working to help law enforcement officials quickly identify drones that pose potential threats before they reach a crowd. They can even fuse CUAS feeds with other situational awareness data like crowd density, camera feeds, and sensor alerts for faster, coordinated responses. As the models view the placement of law enforcement and monitor crowds, agencies can use predictive analytics to anticipate crowd shifts and reallocate resources before a problem even occurs.

Perhaps the most powerful use case is speed. The CUAS can serve as a first responder and auto-launch support if a situation meets specified criteria. With a COP in place, the CUAS vehicle can instantly display a livestream to all agencies and provide situational awareness before a human even arrives on the scene. This prevents accidental conflict, mitigates miscommunication among law enforcement, and provides a shared truth in chaotic situations — a valuable tool for both mega-event operations and everyday policing.

Safeguarding Beyond 2026

The 2026 World Cup is only the beginning. A wave of global events will follow, and the decisions made now will shape how the United States manages complex security operations for the next decade.

By embedding evolving technologies into safety and security operations, agencies can operate from a shared picture, move faster than emerging threats, and deliver safer outcomes at scale. If done right, the U.S. won’t just host the world in 2026, it will set the global gold standard in event safety and coordination.