FIFA World Cup Security Case Study – Hetherington Group 

FIFA 2026 World Cup Security Risks & Challenges 

The FIFA World Cup created one of the largest public safety and security operations ever conducted across New Jersey and the greater New York metropolitan area. Agencies were preparing for large visitor populations, crowded event zones, transportation disruptions, and security concerns that extended into surrounding communities. Potential risks ranged from transnational crime and terrorism to drone activity, cyber threats, fraud, human trafficking, narcotics activity, and other opportunistic crimes associated with major international events. 

Intelligence teams needed a way to collect and evaluate information, coordinate findings across stakeholders, and turn potential threats into actionable intelligence that could be shared and acted upon quickly. The scale and complexity of the operation called for a unified intelligence capability that brought together the people, technology, resources, and processes needed to prepare for the World Cup and support future intelligence operations. 

Those needs came into focus during a conversation between Hetherington Group and an NJSP detective involved in World Cup planning. HG proposed an approach that addressed needs around planning, technology, training, and operational processes. Because NJSP already had some familiarity with HG through previous training and interactions, and HG was well established in the OSINT and law enforcement communities, the proposal was able to gain move quickly through review and approval processes.

Solution: Building a World Cup Security Intelligence Operation  

Hetherington Group led the development of Operation Garden Watch in partnership with the NJSP and Northern New Jersey UASI. Structured as a public-private partnership, the initiative brought together law enforcement, intelligence professionals, trainers, and private-sector technology partners around a highly coordinated intelligence effort.  

Operation Garden Watch was built around three objectives:

1. Building Capability Before the Event

Hetherington Group provided OSINT training designed to strengthen investigative skills and intelligence practices before tournament operations began. In addition to NJSP’s specialized OSINT team, the training included dozens of analysts, patrol personnel, and local law enforcement, thereby expanding the number of personnel equipped to identify risks, investigate online activity, and connect information that could warrant further attention. 

HG also drew on its relationships with private-sector technology providers to bring their platforms, software, and investigative resources into the initiative to support intelligence collection and analysis. The arrangement created a true public-private partnership, bringing together law enforcement, training and investigative expertise, and commercial technology around a shared public-safety mission.

2. Supporting Operations During the Event 

Hetherington Group worked alongside participating agencies as they monitored activity across the surface web, deep web, and dark web for potential threats and emerging areas of concern. They provided investigative expertise as findings emerged, helping personnel evaluate information, connect indicators, and determine when further investigation or action was warranted. This gave participating personnel both the resources and additional support needed to apply their training during live operations.

3. Creating Long-Term Capability 

While the initiative was designed to support World Cup security operations, its purpose extended beyond a single event. 

The same training, investigative methods, technology resources, and operational experience developed for the World Cup created a broader foundation of OSINT knowledge across participating personnel. Skills that had previously been concentrated among specialized investigators were now available to a wider group of analysts and law enforcement personnel, strengthening their ability to investigate online activity, identify risks, track individuals, and support future operations. 

Results 

Operation Garden Watch put the capabilities developed during the six-week preparation period into practice, giving NJSP personnel additional resources to identify, investigate, and respond to potential public-safety concerns before, during, and after World Cup operations. 

• Pre-Event Threat Mitigation
  
  • • In the weeks leading up to the World Cup, NJSP personnel identified and addressed a range of concerns, including fraudulent ticket activity, potentially disruptive protests, and an online threat that investigators traced to the individual responsible. 
  • • Additionally, NJSP personnel used the training and investigative resources provided through Operation Garden Watch to investigate the theft of specialized equipment that raised potential security concerns. Though the incident turned out to be unrelated to the World Cup, the investigation led to the recovery of the stolen equipment and the arrest of the individual responsible. 

• Successful World Cup Operations 
  
  • • The capabilities developed through the initiative gave NJSP greater capacity to identify and assess potential risks as they emerged across what the agency described as its longest continuous security operation to date. No major incidents were reported at the venue or at watch parties across the state.  

• Expanded Investigative Capability 
  
  • • By the end of Operation Garden Watch, participating agencies had a stronger foundation for future intelligence operations, including trained personnel, established investigative workflows, experience applying OSINT in a live environment, and greater familiarity with the technology available to support that work. The initiative also extended those capabilities beyond specialized intelligence teams, with approximately 50 law enforcement professionals participating in the training and gaining skills they could carry into future investigations, major events, and other public-safety operations.