Mexico City is facing a week of rain, with unstable weather forecast for this Thursday, the date of the opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, scheduled for 4pm (Brasília time). For this edition of the tournament, weather reports will have a significantly greater impact than in previous World Cups.
The International Football Federation (FIFA) has standardized a storm protocol for all games in this year’s competition, which will also include matches in Canada. The measure, which has already been tested and caused interruptions in several Club World Cup clashes last year in the United States, aims to ensure a uniform and safe response to adverse weather events, establishing a global standard of protection for athletes and the public.
There are three levels of alerts activated when a storm approaches game locations:
- Storms up to 26 kilometers away, with possible impact in up to 40 minutes: intensified monitoring and greater state of attention begins.
- Storms up to 13 kilometers away, with an impact of up to 20 minutes: the match is immediately interrupted and stadium evacuation procedures begin.
- Storms up to eight kilometers away, with an impact of up to 10 minutes: the stands are completely emptied, the lawn and areas close to the field must be vacated, and all people are directed to protected areas.
The resumption of games will take place after two evaluation stages:
- Fifteen minutes after the last recorded lightning, new meteorological assessments will be made; If safety conditions are confirmed, the teams will return to the field to warm up and the public will be allowed to return to the stands.
- The match may be restarted thirty minutes after the last lightning strike.
Weather assessments have the potential to delay the start of matches. However, the application of the protocol in a specific game will not affect the other matches of the day, which will follow their original times.
Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) indicated that the opening ceremony of the World Cup could be hit by heavy rain. Over the past two weeks, several Mexican states have been impacted by storms, part of the ongoing cyclone season. The National Water Commission (Conagua) projects continued rainfall in several regions of the country throughout the month of June.
On Wednesday, a friendly between the teams of England and Costa Rica, played in Orlando, Florida, had already had its start postponed due to strong storms.