Cybersecurity threat detection and international standards for mega-sporting events: A systematic review toward securing the Morocco 2030 FIFA World Cup

The Morocco 2030 World Cup, a tri-continental mega-event co-hosted with Spain and Portugal, will feature complex digital infrastructures spanning multiple nations, creating an expansive attack surface for cyber threats. As mega-events become increasingly digitized, the convergence of physical and digital security domains renders these high-profile gatherings particularly vulnerable to ransomware, data breaches, and disinformation campaigns, with consequences extending beyond operational disruption to national security and host nation reputation. This systematic review synthesizes existing research on threat detection and international cybersecurity standards for large-scale events, with particular attention to the Morocco 2030 World Cup as an illustrative case. The review aims to evaluate cyber threat detection methods, benchmark international standards, identify lessons from prior mega-events, compare risk and resilience frameworks, and assess the role of emerging technologies. A systematic literature search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. The search yielded 39 papers, supplemented by 86 additional records through backward and forward citation chaining. Following full-text screening and relevance assessment, 50 studies were included in the final synthesis. Data extraction captured bibliographic information, study characteristics, thematic focus, and key findings, which were analyzed using thematic synthesis. The review identifies a pervasive "implementation gap" between theoretical consensus and practical realization. While AI-enhanced threat detection demonstrates significant potential for improving speed and accuracy (15 studies), empirical validation in live mega-event environments remains limited. International standards such as NIST and ISO/IEC 27001 provide essential governance frameworks (20 studies), yet adoption is inconsistent and hindered by voluntary compliance. Lessons from previous World Cups and Olympics (20 studies) emphasize multi-agency coordination and contextual adaptation but reveal challenges in sustaining security legacies. Risk and resilience frameworks support adaptive security (18 studies) but lack event-specific tailoring. Emerging technologies, notably AI-driven zero-trust architectures (15 studies), offer transformative promise but face deployment challenges and a maturity gap. Securing mega-events like Morocco 2030 requires integrated strategies combining advanced detection, standardized frameworks, stakeholder collaboration, and contextual intelligence. Future research must prioritize empirical validation of AI-driven architectures in live event settings and the development of binding international cybersecurity standards tailored to the unique temporal and operational realities of mega-events, ensuring security legacies that are both effective and socially sustainable.  Keywords: Cybersecurity, Mega-Events, Threat Detection, World Cup, Morocco 2030, AI, Risk Assessment.