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Concern as Canadian wildfire smoke threatens World Cup final host – EnviroNews
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Vast smoke plumes from wildfires currently burning across Canada are deteriorating air quality across large parts of Canada and the northeastern United States.
Transboundary smoke is already leading to extremely poor air quality warnings in cities including New York and Philadelphia, as well as New Jersey, which is set to host the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, 2026. New York State was under Air Quality Advisory on Thursday, July 16, for unhealthy levels.
Officials in New York and New Jersey have issued an air quality health alert because of wildfire smoke just days before the World Cup final.
Haze caused by Canadian wildfires has blanketed the New York region, prompting officials to urge residents to reduce outdoor exertion and stay indoors if possible.
New York New Jersey Stadium – which is in East Rutherford, New Jersey – will host the final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday.
Conditions deteriorated just before Spain landed in New Jersey on Wednesday night, a day after their semi-final victory over France in Texas.
Spain spent Thursday training outdoors, looking unaffected by the air quality. They have not commented on whether they are concerned.
Argentina, meanwhile, stayed in Georgia after their semi-final win over England, but began training in New Jersey on Friday afternoon.
New Yorkers are relieved conditions are not as intense as they were in June 2023, when the skies turned completely orange because of Canadian wildfires.
New York New Jersey Stadium is an open-air facility, but at the moment there is no suggestion the World Cup final, with more than 80,000 spectators and a star-studded half-time show, will be affected.
The air quality in the area is expected to improve on Friday while forecast rain on Saturday should further help disperse some of the smoke.
On Thursday, the Major League Soccer match between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps was postponed because of poor air quality conditions in the Chicago area.
The largest fires are burning in the Northwest Territories, where cumulative fire emissions are comparable to the levels seen during the territory’s most severe fire years in 2023 and 2014, up to mid-July.
Wildfire emissions increase concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), one of the most harmful pollutants for human health, along with many other toxic pollutants. Some estimates suggest 345 million people in North America and Europe were exposed to daily PM2.5 pollution caused by the Canadian wildfires in 2023, with 70,400 deaths linked to that wildfire season.
Meanwhile, a surge of wildfires in northwestern Ontario, which ignited on July 13 along a “front” of approximately 500km, has pushed the province to its highest annual total estimated fire emissions for the province as of July 16.
