The biggest World Cup ever is about to begin. The weather is not on its side.
A heat advisory is going up across much of the Northeast, and the tournament kicks off right into it.
This year's World Cup is the largest on record. It packs in 48 teams and 104 matches across 16 cities in three countries.
It runs from June 11 to the final on July 19 near New York.
The map is huge too. Games stretch from southern Mexico up to Canada.
New York's own first match comes June 13, when Brazil faces Morocco.
The timing is the problem. New York could reach 91°F on Thursday and 92°F on Friday.
With humidity, it could feel close to 100°F under a heat advisory.
Summers here are sticky, often 65% to 75% humidity. That thick air is what pushes the feels-like number up.
That is not small stuff for an event this big. The World Cup is one of the most-watched sports events on earth.
A tournament this size is also a real boost to the local economy.
Big events like this move sponsors, airlines, and host-city budgets, and we cover the money angle in Market Briefs every morning, with a free investing masterclass thrown in when you join.
The main stadium sits just outside New York, open to the sky with no roof for shade. An afternoon kickoff there can be brutal.
The same venue hosts eight matches, including the final.
The fan zones around the city sit out in the open too. People watching outside feel the same sun.
So FIFA is spending real effort to keep people cool. The new rules include a few cooling measures:
Many kickoffs in hot cities are moving later. Evening games feel cooler once the sun drops.
The worry is backed by science. A team at Imperial College London studied the match sites with a group called World Weather Attribution.
Their conclusion was clear. About one in four matches sit in cities where the heat could overwhelm the body's own cooling.
In five games, the heat could hit a danger line. That is the point where the players' union, FIFPRO, says games should pause.
They track it with a score that blends heat, humidity, and sun into one number. It is the same kind of gauge used on military bases and job sites.
For an event this big, heat has become a cost to manage. It sits right next to security and crowd control.
The early matches will test the plan. Watch whether more kickoffs move to the evening, and whether any games face a delay.
A long stoppage would scramble TV slots and travel plans.
Outdoor sports have always lived with the weather. The first whistle blows Thursday, into a forecast in the 90s.
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