Clear sky due to wildfire smoke unlikely to cancel World Cup final in New Jersey
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While dark skies and poor air quality continue to affect much of Canada and the US, forecasts show that conditions are expected to improve in time for the FIFA World Cup 2026 final in New Jersey on Sunday.
The bulls of Argentina and Spain will meet at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, aacross the river from New York City.
Air quality in the city was deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups” as of midday Saturday, according to AirNowUS Environmental Protection Agency website to track air quality data. Conditions are expected to moderate on Sunday, as northwesterly winds push persistent smoke from Canadian wildfires out of the region, the website said.
Swiss air quality technology company IQAir i and prediction improve the air quality index for East Rutherford on Sunday.
On Thursday, thick fog swirled orange and dark yellow skies in several states and partially obscured the Manhattan skyline.
Officials in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other northeastern states distributed free K95 face masks, canceled outdoor programs and opened libraries and other public buildings as cooling centers where people could get a breather.
As Friday progressed, air quality standards improved from “unhealthy” to “moderate” in some areas in and around New York City. A bright sun broke through the smog, and clear skies were visible over much of the region on Friday afternoon.
The FIFA World Cup finals will be held in New Jersey near New York City on Sunday. But smoke from wildfires raging across Canada has engulfed the region.
Something ‘amazing’ is required to cancel the same
FIFA told Reuters on Friday that air quality conditions currently do not pose a threat to the World Cup finals. CBC News has contacted FIFA for comment on whether officials have considered postponing the match.
But Joshua Kloke, the writer of The Athletic who was talking about the World Cup, says that it will take an extreme for FIFA to stop this game.
“It’s going to take some kind of superstorm – the likes of which North America has never seen – to cancel a World Cup final,” he said in an interview with the CBC News Network.
Kloke added that the two teams facing each other on Sunday are used to playing under difficult weather conditions.
“They were going to play some games in some pretty brutal conditions this summer across the United States in terms of heat. So I don’t see it being canceled for any reason.”
That being said, organizers may choose to postpone for a few hours to wait for the situation to improve, he said.
The weather disrupted Spain’s training session on Saturday. The players went indoors for warm-up time due to storms and lightning in the East Hanover area. There was no indication that the team would try to come back out for full time.
The US National Weather Service is forecasting sunny conditions with a local high of 28 C on Sunday.
Canada faces Trump’s wrath over wildfires
The weather has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, and a group of Republican politicians, after hundreds of wildfires in Canada prompted air quality warnings for states near the Great Lakes.
Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian imports because of the “unnecessary onslaught” of smog south of the border.
“We are holding Canada accountable for the fact that they are not properly protecting their Forests, and the Brush there, and the United States has been needlessly bombarded with dirty, dirty, and unhealthy air,” the president wrote in a social media post on Friday.
US President Donald Trump is threatening to raise tariffs on Canadian imports because of the ‘unnecessary onslaught’ of smoke from hundreds of wildfires that have devastated communities and forced people from their homes.
Trump said on Friday he intended to call Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss the “unnecessary” situation.
The president’s comments come after four members of the Michigan House of Representatives wrote a letter to Carney criticizing the Canadian and provincial governments for what they say is a lack of action to prevent wildfires.
Carney did not comment directly on the letter when asked about it by reporters Thursday, but he downplayed current policies to manage climate change.
These leaders may meet in the World Cup final on Sunday.
