Seating bowl briefly cleared, possible flooding forecast ahead of Norway-Senegal World Cup match

A general view of the MetLife stadium during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Norway’s World Cup match against Senegal started as scheduled at MetLife Stadium on Monday night after heavy rain earlier in the day.

About 100 miles (160 kilometres) south in Philadelphia, France’s match against Iraq was suspended for 2 hours, 10 minutes because of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The U.S. National Weather Service issued a flood watch for parts of New York City and New Jersey that included Bergen County, where MetLife Stadium is located. Roads leading to the stadium had standing water four hours prior to the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff.

“Showers and potential thunderstorms with high amounts of moisture are expected to move through the area this afternoon and tonight,” the NWS said. “These showers will have the potential to produce up to around 2 inches of rainfall per hour. These rates could result in flash flooding mainly over urban and poor drainage areas.”

Weather conditions that would cause a delay in the start of matches or an interruption are not included in World Cup regulations.

“FIFA will continue to monitor conditions in real time and stands ready to apply established contingency protocols should extreme weather events occur,” the governing body said in a statement, adding it would maintain “close collaboration with host governments, medical experts and emergency authorities.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his latest edition of a video series throughout the tournament advised ticket-holders to begin their trek to the stadium at least four hours before the start time.

“Do not underestimate the weather,” Mamdani said. “Thunderstorms may be severe, and winds may be strong.”

New York City Emergency Management issued a travel advisory earlier Monday.

“I’m urging everyone to plan ahead and give themselves extra time to travel safely,” Mamdani said in a statement. “No destination is worth risking your safety. If conditions become severe, stay indoors and wait until it’s safe to travel.”

The open-air venue, which opened in 2010 and seats about 80,000, was constructed over steel pilings in the New Jersey marshlands.

There have not been any weather delays during the first 11 days of the tournament.

At last year’s Club World Cup in the U.S., six of 63 games were delayed by weather for a total of 8 hours, 29 minutes.

The start of England’s friendly against Costa Rica on June 10 at Orlando, Florida, was pushed back one hour because of a storm and a June 5 friendly between Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico in Austin, Texas, was suspended in the 21st minute because of weather and resumed about 90 minutes later.

World Cup regulations say “in the case of a match being abandoned as a result of force majeure after it has already kicked off … the match shall recommence at the minute at which play was interrupted rather than being replayed in full, and with the same scoreline.”

“The match shall recommence where play was stopped when the match was interrupted (e.g. with a free kick, throw‑in, goal kick, corner kick, penalty kick, etc.),” it adds. “If the match was abandoned while the ball was still in play, it shall restart with a dropped ball from the position of the ball when play was stopped. The kickoff time, date, location and any other matter shall be decided by FIFA.”

In addition, “FIFA has the right to cancel, reschedule or relocate one or more matches (or the entire FIFA World Cup 26) for any reason at its sole discretion, including as a result of force majeure or due to health, safety or security concerns.”