Wildfire Smoke Clouds World Cup Final Preparations in New York

Spain and Argentina touched down in the New York area this week to find officials in New York and New Jersey had issued an air quality health alert due to wildfire smoke. Canadian wildfires were the culprit, painting the region in an orange haze just days before the tournament’s final match.

The World Cup final takes place at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, 19 July at 20:00 BST. Spain got here by beating France in their Texas semi-final, and Argentina knocked out England. Since the stadium is open-air, both teams and over 80,000 spectators will breathe in the smoke unless conditions shift.

Spain trained outdoors Thursday despite the air quality conditions. Argentina, still in Georgia after their semi-final win, will start training in New Jersey on Friday afternoon.

The smoke has already hit other sports in the region hard. An NWSL match between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit went ahead Wednesday night at Citi Field in Queens before a record crowd, orange haze and all. NWSL rules forced players to take two breaks per half because of the air quality index. After the match, Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman described the conditions bluntly: “Not to make excuses at all, but I think on both sides we were all like, ‘another break, another break, another break’,” she said.

Miles away, Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps saw their Major League Soccer match postponed due to poor air quality in the Chicago area. That postponement meant Robert Lewandowski—the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona striker who signed with Chicago Fire as a free agent last month—had to wait even longer for his debut.

There’s a silver lining. Air quality in the New York area should improve Friday, and rain on Saturday will help clear the smoke. New York has been through this before: in June 2023, Canadian wildfires turned the city’s skies completely orange.