Weather Wreaks Havoc on Spain’s World Cup Final Preparations

Thunderstorms and flash floods in New York-New Jersey area disrupted La Roja’s training session.

Lamine Yamal and Spain could not train on Saturday. | Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images

Inclement weather tearing through New York and New Jersey forced Spain to cancel its final training session on the eve of the World Cup final.

La Roja were supposed to begin their last preparations for Argentina at 11 a.m. ET in Whippany, New Jersey, on Saturday, but pouring rain, thunder and lightning all played spoiler. The team arrived at the former training complex of Red Bull New York, but was stuck waiting out the weather in the dressing room.

FIFA protocols dictate training must be postponed whenever there is lightning within an eight-mile radius, per The Athletic, and cannot resume until an “all clear” is given. Weather checks occur every 30 minutes, much like the system in place for matches at the 2026 World Cup.

Spain waited around for 40 minutes at the complex until it canceled training, giving its players the rest of the day off instead of hanging around and waiting for the weather to clear up.

---

The Silver Lining of Spain’s Canceled Training

Luis de la Fuente saw his final preparations disrupted. | Heuler Andrey/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Just 24 hours ago, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told reporters just how vital the final training session would be for his side ahead of the World Cup final.

“Tomorrow we have the last training session,” he said. “It’s one of the most critical moments, thinking that there can’t be any delays because you won’t make the game if there were some sort of adverse circumstance ... hopefully not,” he added, referring to injury recovery. “But they’re all good.”

The one perk of missing training on Saturday is that De la Fuente indeed does not have to worry about any last-minute injuries plaguing his squad. It also gives Lamine Yamal, who missed the session on Thursday, some extra recovery time after taking a hard knock in the semifinals against France.

Still, it’s hardly an ideal circumstance to miss training on the eve of the biggest game in the world. De la Fuente’s men will need to draw on all the practices that got them to MetLife Stadium on July 19.

---

Argentina Takes a Different Approach

Argentina waited out the bad weather to trian. | Elsa/Getty Images

Argentina’s training complex is also in Whippany, New Jersey, just five miles from where Spain trained. The defending world champions were supposed to begin their session at 11:30 a.m. ET, but also suffered delays due to the thunderstorms.

Instead of leaving and canceling the session like La Roja, Messi and Co. waited out the weather and eventually took the pitch after 12 p.m. ET.

Although the weather disrupted both teams, it was much needed throughout New York and New Jersey after days of poor air quality from Canadian wildfires. There were concerns the World Cup final might be moved to a new location, but the harsh weather on Saturday is set to improve the conditions and finally get the Air Quality Index down to non-concerning levels.

The heaps of rain and flash flood warnings throughout the region do pose a concern to the pitch quality at MetLife Stadium, though, where Spain will square off with Argentina at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.

---