England vs Costa Rica kick-off delayed as storms rage in Orlando | OneFootball

Three Lions’ final warm-up friendly threatened by extreme weather conditions

Kick off in England’s final pre-World Cup warm-up match against Costa Rica has been delayed by stormy weather in Orlando.

Wednesday’s game at Inter&Co Stadium was due to begin at 4pm local time (9pm BST), but a Football Association (FA) statement confirmed that it has been delayed until further notice.

It has now been confirmed that it will now kick off at 5pm local time (10pm BST), meaning a one-hour delay.

There were reports at 7:50pm BST that fans — initially instructed to find safe shelter — were being allowed into the stadium. Rain on the waterlogged pitch drained quickly.

There was lightning recorded in the area in addition to thunder and torrential rainfall but the weather then brightened off.

A second statement at 8:37pm BST confirmed the 10pm BST revised kick-off time.

It said: “Following a pitch inspection at the stadium, today’s match against Costa Rica will now kick off at 5pm ET (10pm UK time) – subject to there being no further lightning strikes in the area. Thank you for your patience.”

There was a similar delay during England’s final warm-up friendly before their ill-fated 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil. An eventually goalless meeting with Honduras in Miami was delayed by 40 minutes due to an electrical thunderstorm.

The Costa Rica match is England’s last before they travel on Saturday from Florida to their tournament base camp in Kansas City, Missouri, ready for their World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.

On Saturday, Thomas Tuchel’s side won the first of their two warm-up games when Harry Kane’s late first-half header gave them a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the searing heat of Tampa.