England’s run through the 2026 World Cup has been defined by two things so far: Jude Bellingham playing like a man possessed and thunderstorms that keep messing with the schedule. The quarterfinal against Norway on Saturday in Miami might continue the latter trend.
The Three Lions are coming off that wild round-of-16 win over co-host Mexico in Mexico City, which started an hour late because of lightning and heavy rain at altitude. They played most of the second half with 10 men after Jarell Quansah got sent off, still managed to win 3-0, and now they’re headed to South Florida where the forecast is, well, unsettled.
Miami’s weather is doing that thing it does
Saturday’s forecast in Miami is all over the place depending on who you ask. The BBC says sunny with a breeze at kickoff but thundery showers around 2 p.m. AccuWeather is warning about thunderstorms in the afternoon and specifically mentions lightning from nearby storms could impact the match. NBC 6 South Florida is expecting isolated thunderstorms. The Weather Channel is going with mainly sun. About the only thing they agree on is temperature: roughly 33 degrees Celsius (around 91 Fahrenheit) with humidity near 58 percent. It’s going to be hot and sticky.
The game kicks off at 5 p.m. local time (10 p.m. BST), which is a much more civilized hour than the 2 a.m. start in the UK for the Mexico game. But the problem is that time slot in Miami in July is prime thunderstorm season. Those afternoon pop-up storms that roll in off the Atlantic tend to linger.
Miami Stadium has a canopy, not a roof
Here’s the thing about Miami Stadium, which is the Hard Rock Stadium that the Dolphins play in. It’s not a dome. It has a big open-air canopy that was installed during renovations in 2016, which covers most of the seats. But the field itself and the lower seating areas are exposed. If lightning gets within eight miles of the stadium, U.S. policy says the game has to stop. Players, coaches, officials all go inside. Fans have to clear the stands. And you need 30 minutes clear of lightning before you can restart.
That’s the same rule that delayed the Mexico game, by the way. So England has been through this drill before. They handled it fine in Mexico City, but that was at altitude where the ball moves differently and the air is thin. Miami is sea level, humid, and the ball sticks to the grass a bit more. It’s a different kind of adjustment.
Norway has to be happy about not playing Mexico in Mexico City, but they’re not exactly thrilled about the forecast either. They’ve got Erling Haaland up top, and the last thing you want is a stop-start game where your best striker can’t get into a rhythm because everyone’s standing around waiting for lightning to clear.
FIFA already had to scrap a plan to move the Mexico game forward by six hours because both teams and fans freaked out. Don’t expect them to try that again in Miami. The tournament is just going to have to ride out whatever the weather does. And if there’s a delay, well, at least it’s not 2 a.m. this time.
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