How storms could impact the World Cup, and the warning from a year ago | OneFootball

There are 53 days left until the World Cup and, as the start of the tournament draws closer — set to begin on June 11 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada — an issue that had Club World Cup organizers on edge is back on the agenda: the electrical storms that hit several cities and forced some matches to be temporarily suspended during the last major tournament held on North American soil.

Although the event will be hosted by three countries, the United States is the main one, and the biggest event in world football will take place during June and July, which coincide with summer there. That means the temperature was already going to be a factor to deal with. But beyond the heat, the main problem is sudden storms, a situation in which football simply cannot be played.

In fact, the areas in the United States most affected by these weather events are in the Northeast, a region that will host several venues. “At this time of year, especially east of the Rocky Mountains, thunderstorms form quite frequently. Especially in the northern half of the United States, from Cincinnati to New York,” National Weather Service chief Ben Schott told The Athletic last year when the issue was worrying Club World Cup organizers.

In the tournament FIFA launched last year, the problems began when the match between Ulsan and Mamelodi Sundowns was delayed for more than an hour due to a storm in Florida. The next day, the game between Red Bull Salzburg and Pachuca was also stopped for an hour and a half in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Although those cities will not host World Cup matches, places very close by — and within the region Schott described as problematic — will. That is the case with New York and New Jersey, Boston and Philadelphia, located farther north, and Miami, a little farther south.

The reason is that in storm situations, U.S. safety protocol requires activities to be halted and the stands to be evacuated for at least 30 minutes if weather sensors detect a lightning strike within a 13-kilometer radius. If another strike occurs within that area, the clock resets. Once conditions allow, the players do a five-minute warm-up and resume play, but the stoppage — whose length is never known in advance — disrupts the match that was being played before.

The issue becomes even more significant considering that one of the stadiums affected by this problem a year ago was New York’s MetLife Stadium, the venue chosen to host the World Cup final on July 19. Can anyone imagine the decisive match for football’s biggest title being stopped for an hour because of an electrical storm?

After the conclusions drawn from the Club World Cup, FIFA took note and began acting ahead of the upcoming national team tournament. “They have already developed a plan for adverse weather conditions that they presented to FIFA officials, and it breaks down, city by city, the possible threats in each of the cities that will host the World Cup,” Schott reported.

In this scenario, it also cannot be overlooked that, although it is not expected to directly cause a match to be stopped, the heat is another factor to keep in mind because of how it will affect the players. In this regard, the venues most affected by high temperatures and, especially, humidity will be Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), Houston (NRG Stadium), Kansas City (GEHA Field, where the Argentina national team will be based), and Dallas (AT&T Stadium).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.