Orlando Match Delayed One Hour by Thunderstorms as World Cup Venues Prepare for Mixed Weather

England’s warm-up match against Costa Rica in Orlando was delayed by about an hour after thunderstorms brought lightning and heavy rain that waterlogged the pitch. U.S. venues suspend play when lightning is recorded within roughly 8 miles of a stadium and do not resume until 30 minutes after the last strike.

Mexico and Canada. Miami and Houston are the most lightning-prone among the host cities, though Houston’s stadium has a retractable roof. U.S. And south-eastern Canada. Friday’s Canada v Bosnia and Herzegovina match in Toronto and Saturday’s Boston and New York fixtures face slight risk from severe storms.

FIFA assesses heat-stress risk using wet bulb globe temperature, which combines temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind.

Many exercise physiologists regard 28°C WBGT as the level at which high-exertion play becomes unsafe, while FIFA’s own threshold for considering action is 32°C WBGT. A 2025 study projected that 14 of the 16 host cities will exceed 28°C WBGT at least some of the time. Several stadiums have roofs and air-conditioning that can mitigate the heat.

U.S. is likely to produce the greatest heat strain. Mexico City sits at about 2,240 metres above sea level, where thinner air reduces oxygen availability, accelerates fatigue and alters the flight of the ball.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a low-pressure area over the Bay of Campeche with a small chance of tropical cyclone formation before landfall into eastern Mexico at the weekend. Mexican venues, Houston and Miami face the greatest risk from tropical storms during the early part of the Atlantic season.

Canada’s venues will probably stay comparatively cool throughout the tournament with the lowest risk of disruptive storms.