Overview
- Monday afternoon stadium and city officials delayed gate openings at Philadelphia Stadium and urged fans not to travel as thunderstorms and heavy rain moved into the region.
- Flood watches and flash-flood warnings cover parts of New York and New Jersey around MetLife Stadium while forecasts call for intense downpours, damaging wind gusts and isolated tornado potential that could coincide with evening kickoffs.
- Under FIFA and U.S. lightning safety guidance play must stop if lightning is detected within eight miles and can resume only after 30 minutes without another strike, with each new strike resetting the clock and no fixed maximum delay.
- Organizers have activated evacuation and shelter plans, closed fan festivals, banned umbrellas inside venues, and coordinated transit limits and ticketed access to manage crowd safety and movement.
- If a match is abandoned it will restart from the minute play stopped with the same scoreline, and officials warned repeated storms could push resumptions into hours or require rescheduling decisions by FIFA.