With the World Cup final less than 24 hours away, an unlikely factor is grabbing the attention of organisers, fans and players alike.
The lingering smoke from the Canadian wildfires sparked earlier this week has engulfed the northeastern region of the United States, raising questions about its impact on the Spain vs Argentina final in New Jersey on Sunday.
A visible haze hung over the twin World Cup host states of New York and New Jersey on Saturday, with inclement weather causing disruptions.
At one point on Friday, New York rated as the city with the worst air quality in the world.
The World Cup final between the European champions and current title holders kicks off at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Here’s what we know about the smoke, weather and World Cup final:
Is there a haze in New York and New Jersey before the World Cup final?
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is hanging over the region, reducing visibility and affecting air quality in most northeastern US states.
Warnings of unhealthy air quality remained in effect across a wide area of the US east coast on Saturday.
However, experts predict conditions will improve for the big showdown in New Jersey tomorrow.
The air quality index forecast shows an improvement from unhealthy air to “moderate” air quality for sensitive groups from Saturday to Sunday in East Rutherford, which means little to no health risk for the general public on the day of the final.
How is the weather and what’s the forecast in New Jersey before the Spain vs Argentina final?
A thunderstorm passed through the area on Saturday afternoon, causing heavy rain and loud thunder at the New York New Jersey Stadium, renamed from MetLife Stadium.
State police urged people to leave the stadium seating bowl and field and take shelter. Volunteers and staff dashed inside for cover as ponchos were handed out. The sky was the same thick, soupy grey it had been for days.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill warned residents about the potential for damaging winds, tornadoes, flash flooding and large hailstones.
FIFA said it was in close contact with local authorities as it continues to monitor the impacts from the wildfire smoke and the storms on the stadium conditions for the final.
Have the weather and smoke disrupted preparations for Spain or Argentina?
Spain’s last training session ahead of the final at a nearby Melanie Lane Training Ground was suspended because of storms and lightning in the area.
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) said that was in accordance with US storm safety protocol.
“The players are currently taking part in a warm-up session indoors,” RFEF added.
FIFA said that there would not be another time slot for the team to train.
Argentina had an outdoor training session at their scheduled time of 1:30pm (17:30 GMT), with players showing no concerns about air quality or the weather.
Will the wildfire smoke affect the World Cup final?
The haze will mostly clear from New Jersey just in time for the final, thanks to thunderstorms passing through the area, meteorologists say.
“This storm front will largely move the smoke out of the northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina,” said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at online weather service AccuWeather.
“There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the northeast.”
Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist at WFLA-TV, echoed the forecast, saying the storm front would “sweep the atmosphere clean”, leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air.
“It won’t be dangerous anymore,” Berardelli said. “It’s going to be dramatically better.”
Temperatures are forecast to be around 27C (80F) with light breezes and low humidity for kick off.
“You couldn’t have asked for much better weather for the World Cup,” Berardelli added.
Both experts expect the heavier smoke on Sunday to be concentrated closer to the fires, hanging over parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Berardelli said they are burning longer and faster because of climate change.