World Cup Story Feed / 世界杯事情流
World Cup Story Feed / 世界杯事情流
On June 22, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the France vs. Iraq group stage match was halted at halftime by thunderstorms and lightning. The referee waited for a complete absence of lightning detection within an 8 mile radius, while players sat idly in the locker room and fans crowded into the concourses to take shelter. The match resumed after a 131 minute delay.
On June 22, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, a group stage match between France and Iraq was halted at halftime by thunderstorms and lightning. The referees waited for complete clearance of lightning detection within an 8-mile radius, while players sat idly in the locker room and fans crowded in the concourses for shelter. It took 131 minutes for the match to resume.
The longest weather-related interruption in World Cup history was thus written into France's medical report.
Eight days later, France is set to face Sweden in the same metropolitan area. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, for a knockout match. The forecast kickoff temperature is 31°C, with an extreme heat warning already in effect for New Jersey. The sky above has just discharged lightning, and the ground beneath offers no comfort.
Didier Deschamps probably didn't expect his stance to shift so quickly. After France's 2-1 friendly win over Brazil on March 26, he slammed FIFA's newly implemented mandatory cooling breaks at a press conference: "It ruins everything." His exact words were harsher—"It's almost four quarters." The football he loves was being sliced into the rhythm of American football by these cooling breaks, with attacking momentum broken on a whim, and he couldn't stand it.
Three months later, the heatwave on the U.S. East Coast has cornered his position. If France advances to the Round of 16 on July 4 in Philadelphia, the forecast temperature is 39°C, with a heat index over 42°C, accompanied by thunderstorm risks. The U.S. National Weather Service has clearly stated that without adequate cooling and hydration under such extreme heat, it could be fatal.
FIFA set the rule in December 2025: All matches in this World Cup will have a mandatory 3-minute cooling break midway through each half, around the 22nd and 67th minutes, regardless of weather conditions. Each match will have at least 6 extra minutes of added time. Under current regulations, when the WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, a heat stress indicator combining temperature, humidity, radiation, and wind speed) exceeds 32°C, additional cooling breaks are authorized. The International Federation of Professional Footballers believes this threshold is set too high—when WBGT surpasses 26°C, multiple cooling breaks are needed, and above 28°C, match postponement should be recommended.
What Deschamps called "four quarters" could become a player's oxygen tube by July in Philadelphia. A person's flip-flop on the same set of rules is itself the most compelling drama in this heatwave.
The turf at MetLife Stadium is another unavoidable headache. This 82,500-seat venue originally had NFL artificial turf, which was temporarily replaced with natural grass for the World Cup. Beneath the grass is a concrete base, preventing roots from digging deep, altering the ball's bounce trajectory and feel.
Adrien Rabiot didn't hold back after France's 3-1 win over Senegal on June 17: "I don't even know if you can call that pitch a football field. It felt more like artificial turf—very hard, very stiff." Deschamps added a jab: "I think underneath is probably concrete."
This isn't just whining. Over the past six years, MetLife Stadium's artificial turf has recorded 14 ACL tears. A thin layer of grass over a concrete base doesn't change the impact on knees and ankles—it's just green lipstick. Most of the stadium's stands lack a roof, leaving players and fans alike exposed to the sun. After England's win over Panama on June 27, the bare spots on the turf had decreased, and Jude Bellingham said he had no issues. The turf is improving, but the concrete remains the same.
The 131-minute suspension in Philadelphia isn't just history either. The match was stopped at 17:49 local time, and lightning detection protocols required complete clearance within an 8-mile radius before resuming. France won 3-0 against Iraq, but no one knows better than them that cumulonimbus clouds in East Coast June come and go as they please. Now, the same heatwave grips the same metropolitan area, with a different opponent—Sweden.
A May study by World Weather Attribution shows that about a quarter of this World Cup's matches are forecast to be played under WBGT ≥ 26°C, with about five potentially exceeding 28°C WBGT—equivalent to an actual temperature of about 35°C. Climate Central's analysis provides a more specific figure: France's match has a 36% probability of encountering "performance-affecting high heat," 14 percentage points higher than in a no-climate-change scenario.
31°C kickoff temperature, shallow-rooted grass on a concrete base, and the ever-present threat of East Coast cumulonimbus storms. FIFA has set cooling breaks, drawn WBGT thresholds, and laid temporary turf. Every step a player takes on that pitch is a test of whether these measures are truly protection or just consolation.