Paul Rouget, Media365: Published Friday, July 17, 2026 at 8:55 am.
Smoke from forest fires in Canada could cause the World Cup finals scheduled for Sunday evening in New Jersey to be disrupted.
Will the 2026 World Cup final scheduled for Sunday (9 p.m.) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford between Spain and Argentina go ahead? While there is no talk of a postponement yet, air quality in the northeastern United States is causing concern. And it comes from smoke from the more than 850 wildfires still burning in Canada.
The hardest hit states were Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. New York woke up to orange skies on Thursday, while the US cities of Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago, as well as Toronto, Canada, recorded some of the worst air quality in the world.
Authorities have issued air pollution warnings that recommend limiting outdoor physical activity, especially for people with respiratory conditions. That didn’t stop the Spaniards, who beat the Blues in their last four matches, from training outdoors in New Jersey on Thursday.
Promising weather forecast?
“These are highly trained athletes who are pushing enormous amounts of air through their lungs. They shouldn’t be exercising outdoors when the air quality reaches dangerous levels. I would encourage them to seek indoor facilities with clean air,” Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency physician and spokeswoman for the Global Alliance on Climate and Health, told The Associated Press.
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match between Gotham FC and former Fleury forward Rosemond Kouassi’s Washington Spirit took place on Wednesday at Citi Field in Queens, New York. And due to poor air quality, players were forced to take two breaks in each period.
But according to the weather forecast, the situation should improve by Sunday, with heavy rain expected on Saturday and colder temperatures the next day, which should allow the final to proceed without incident.