Chelsea fume at two-hour Club World Cup extreme weather delay - but will the 2026 World Cup suffer the same fate?

Britain is currently sweltering under a heatwave, but as is often the case over on the other side of the Atlantic, the Americans are doing it bigger and better.

While we all love a bit of sunshine, the word ‘better’ doesn’t quite scan in these circumstances, as the climate is playing havoc with FIFA’s newest brainchild, the much-talked-about Club World Cup.

A combination of extreme temperatures and storm delays has seen matches disrupted and players put at risk, leading to inevitable questions over the wisdom of hosting the World Cup in North America next summer.

Chelsea fume after weather delay - but should we expect more of the same next summer?

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was the latest to raise the issue, after he saw his side’s last-16 match against Benfica delayed for almost two hours in Charlotte, North Carolina due to an extreme weather event.

Just five minutes of the 90 remained when the players were taken off the pitch, with the Blues leading 1-0. Benfica were able to equalise shortly after the one-hour-53-minute stoppage before the Premier League side went on to win in extra time.

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference. “After the break, the game changed completely. For me it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended.

“I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition.”

A total of six games in six different cities have had to be suspended due to storms, while the temperature has topped 38C (100F) in several matches, but this kind of weather is not out of the ordinary for cities such as Los Angeles or Charlotte during this time of year.

As well as player and fan safety being under the microscope, the prospect of delays could also impact the competitive nature of the tournament.

Boca Juniors’ final group game against Auckland City was delayed for 40 minutes, during which time the Argentine side had been eliminated from the competition due to the result in the other group game, which had kicked off at the same time.

So what is being done to ensure that next summer’s World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19, is not impacted, especially with matches scheduled to be played before 5pm local time, in order to hit key European television slots?

Even Gianni Infantino cannot control the weather, but the FIFA hierarchy will point to the fact that only one of the games impacted during the current tournament (a clash at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey) will be hosting games next summer.

"Fifa's top priority is the health of everyone involved in football, and Fifa's medical experts have been in regular contact with the clubs participating to address heat management and acclimatisation,” the governing body has said in a statement, criticised by main as being lacking on detail.

According to The Athletic, the US’ National Weather Service is working closely with FIFA ahead of next summer’s tournament, but the sight of players trudging off the pitch as storm clouds roll in is set to be something fans need to get used to.