The Unwelcome Guest: How Wildfire Smoke is Disrupting the Beautiful Game As the World Cup final approaches, a different kind of competition has been brewing on the other side of the border – the battle against the noxious effects of wildfire smoke.
For days, haze from Canadian blazes has drifted south into the United States, threatening to ruin the big match between Spain and Argentina.
The situation is eerily familiar for those who have followed similar events in the past. In 2018, a World Cup match in Moscow was delayed due to poor air quality caused by forest fires.