Read 3 minutes22 Jun 2026 05:22 PM IST
The FIFA World Cup Group I match between France and Iraq could be disrupted as severe thunderstorms are forecast for the Philadelphia region on Monday night during the clash. According to Accuweather, the weather forecast is for “rain and strong T-storms, gusts, then rain; damaging winds, lightning and thunderstorms with hail may affect the soccer game and related events.”
In that case, A match may take more than 90 minutes to complete FIFA regulations state that play must be stopped and suspended if lightning is detected within 8 miles of the stadium. In such cases, the audience is sheltered.
“They’ll start evacuating the stadium in the main concourse and look for emergency shelters. And then they’ll have to wait 30 minutes to get everybody back on the field,” Philadelphia Soccer 2026 CEO Lauren Lambrugo said, according to the Mirror.
However, in those 30 minutes, if there is another lightning strike or the weather does not change, the play will be suspended again with another 30 minute window. If this continues, it may take hours for the match to end.
Heavy rain and electrical storms likely at some World Cup games in the US A year ago, six games at the FIFA Club World Cup were delayed for a total of 8½ hours. The match between Chelsea and Dortmund was the worst and took 4 hours and 38 minutes to finish at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Weather has not disrupted any matches at this World Cup, but a warm-up match between England and Costa Rica was delayed by an hour due to lightning.
Spectators at Saturday’s Netherlands-Sweden World Cup match were told to shelter in place after lightning struck the area at the end of the match.
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Meanwhile, on Sunday, after the final whistle blew in the Netherlands’ 5-1 win over Sweden, an announcement was made and a warning was posted on the giant video boards at either end of the stadium.
Stadium officials did not physically prevent fans from leaving, but urged them to remain inside the stadium for about 30 minutes after the rain ended.