Chelsea's Fernández calls US heat dangerous, says FIFA should avoid afternoon World Cup kickoffs

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández heads into Sunday's Club World Cup final wary of the weather, along with Paris Saint-Germain.

“Honestly, the heat is incredible,” Fernandez said Friday. “The other day I got a little dizzy during a play. I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy. Playing in this temperature in very dangerous."

FIFA slashed ticket prices again ahead of the final, as it has throughout the tournament.

Chelsea and PSG play starting at 3 p.m. EDT in MetLife Stadium, also site of next year's World Cup final. Because of the heat, Fernandez recommended FIFA avoid afternoon kickoffs at the 2026 tournament.

“The speed of the game is not the same,” he said. “Everything becomes very slow. Well, let’s hope that next year they change the schedule, at least so that it remains a beautiful and attractive football spectacle.”

Temperature at kickoff is forecast to be 83 degrees Fahrenheit (28 Celsius) with humidity that will make it feel like 91 F (33 C).

"The game will be harder for the team that don’t have the ball,” Chelsea captain Reece James said. “I think we’ve played in it a fair amount now, so I’d say we’re slowly, slowly getting used to it.”

Both teams were allowed by FIFA not to have media availabilities on Saturday.

PSG seeks to complete a quadruple after winning Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and its first Champions League title.

Chelsea is trying for its second world championship after winning in 2021. The Blues have a fourth day of rest after beating Fluminense 2-0 on Tuesday, a day before PSG routed Real Madrid 4-0.

Lowest ticket prices dropped from $330 earlier in the week to $199.60 on Saturday.

“I agree with most of the people that they say that they are the best team in Europe, the best team in the world, and the reason why is because they are showing this — they show in France, they show in the Champions League, they are showing in this competition," Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said.

PSG clinched the French league title on April 5 with six games to spare, won the French Cup on May 24 and the Champions League a week later, romping over Inter Milan 5-0 in the final.

“We really want to go grab this title and this would make it an absolutely perfect season, which would be very hard to replicate," PSG captain Marquinhos said. “We really want to make history.”

Chelsea had a more modest season, finishing fourth in the Premier League, losing to Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup, to Newcastle in the fourth round of the League Cup and winning the third-tier UEFA Conference League.

“Everyone is picking up our opposition,” James said. “We are preparing right and we are going to win.”

NOTES: Maresca said winger Noni Madueke had left the team to sign elsewhere.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Chelsea's starting players pose for a team photo at the beginning of a Club World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Benfica and Chelsea in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Paris Saint-Germain's starting 11 pose for a team photo before the Club World Cup semifinal soccer match between PSG and Real Madrid in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Fluminense goalkeeper Fabio (1) kicks the ball during the Club World Cup semifinal soccer match between Fluminense and Chelsea in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez reacts at the end of the Club World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Palmeiras and Chelsea in Philadelphia, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)