England might face new World Cup drama as their quarter-final match is set.
England might face more weather challenges before their World Cup quarter-final against Norway on Saturday. Thomas Tuchel’s team won an exciting 3-2 match against Mexico at Estadio Azteca. That game started late, at 2am UK time (7pm local) on Monday, because of thunderstorms. The kick-off was pushed back an hour due to rules that require a 30-minute break after each lightning strike near the stadium.
On Friday night, it was reported that FIFA wanted to move the kick-off earlier, from 6pm to noon local time. The Athletic said this was partly because of bad weather but also safety concerns. However, after talks with both teams, and with England’s football association worried because they weren’t told beforehand, FIFA decided to keep the original 6pm start.
England will now play Norway, who beat Brazil 2-1 in New Jersey, in the quarter-final on Saturday. The game will be in Miami, Florida, which has also had storms and very hot weather lately. NBC 6 Miami says there might be “isolated thunderstorms” that day, and it could get up to 33 degrees Celsius, with a 30% chance of rain.
England already experienced a weather delay during their last 16 match against Mexico. Their warm-up game in Orlando, Florida, against Costa Rica was also delayed for an hour due to storms and rain. Tuchel told ITV that delay was no big deal and even helpful to get used to such conditions before the World Cup.
He said, “We knew about it, and now we’ve experienced it. It’s no problem. We shouldn’t let it ruin our mood or hunger to play. When we found out at the hotel, it was easy to wait. We just told the bus to leave half an hour later, and that was it.”
FIFA follows weather rules set by local weather services and governments. If lightning is detected within 8 to 10 miles of the stadium, all outdoor activity must stop for 30 minutes after the last strike. Fans are asked to leave their seats and find shelter, like what happened before the Mexico-England game.
If a match is postponed because of bad weather, FIFA says it will restart from where it stopped, on another day, if the game has already begun.
So far, lightning has caused delays in three World Cup matches. There was a two-hour break at half-time between France and Iraq, and hour-long delays in Mexico’s matches against Ecuador and England.