PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Heavy rain and thunderstorms prompted a rare World Cup weather delay on Monday, when the halftime break during a match between France and Iraq lasted 2 hours, 10 minutes.
It was the first rain delay of the tournament and the first time in at least several decades that a World Cup match was delayed midgame because of inclement weather. Halftime began at 5:50 p.m. EDT and the game resumed at 8 p.m. — 1 hour, 55 minutes longer than the scheduled 15-minute halftime break.
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A photographer shelters from the rain as play is suspended during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A sign advising fans of a weather delay is displayed during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Fans take cover from the rain during a thunderstorm warning in the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Heavy rain falls during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
A sign advising fans of a weather delay is displayed during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Fans wait in a sheltered area of the stadium as bad weather halts play during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A general view of the stadium during a storm delay in the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
There was also heavy rain ahead of Monday night’s game between Norway and Senegal in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which started on time.
With France leading 1-0 at halftime, scoreboard messages directed the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field to take shelter in the stadium’s covered areas, warning that a severe storm was on the way. Sheets of rain fell through halftime as thousands of fans huddled in the concourse and under balconies.
The stoppage was initially expected to extend the halftime break by 15 minutes. As the delay dragged on, stadium officials announced that “the game will resume when deemed safe.”
The teams returned to the field to warm up after about 1 hour, 40 minutes, prompting cheers from the crowd. Crews used squeegees to push standing water toward the sideline of the swampy field.
A rule used by FIFA pauses games for 30 minutes if lightning is detected within 8 miles. Each strike resets the clock.
France and Iraq played through a downpour that started in the 37th minute. Fans donned ponchos and most stayed in their seats until they were told to find shelter at halftime.
FIFA long had a reputation for continuing matches even through extreme weather. A 2014 game between the U.S. and Germany continued in Brazil even after torrential downpour that flooded parts of the surrounding city.
World Cup regulations do not specify weather conditions that would prompt a delay to the start of matches or an interruption. However, the 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.”
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
A photographer shelters from the rain as play is suspended during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
A sign advising fans of a weather delay is displayed during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Fans take cover from the rain during a thunderstorm warning in the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Heavy rain falls during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
A sign advising fans of a weather delay is displayed during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Fans wait in a sheltered area of the stadium as bad weather halts play during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A general view of the stadium during a storm delay in the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Six days into a firefight at a massive frozen-food storage facility near downtown Los Angeles, firefighters have yet to enter the building and have begun moving parts of the exterior walls to try to gain access.
Smoke is billowing from the warehouse, which is roughly 500,000-square-foot (46,451-square-meter), covered in solar panels and insulated like a freezer. It's located across the street from homes in Boyle Heights, a working-class neighborhood east of downtown, and city officials on Monday warned people to stay inside or wear masks due to smoke pollution.
A large warehouse fire can typically be put out in a day, but in a cold storage facility, it can take weeks, authorities said. The fire sparked Wednesday.
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Fires in cold storage facilities often burn for weeks because their heavily insulated ceilings, roofs and walls make them difficult to extinguish, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Jamie Stewart said.
Firefighters have not been able to enter the building due to the danger posed by floor-to-ceiling heavy-duty steel rack shelving, he said. They also have been unable to quickly ventilate the roof due to the insulation, which is what they would typically do to release gas and smoke and gain visibility inside a warehouse, he said.
The warehouse has rows that are 65-feet (20 meters) tall and 650-feet (200 meters) long loaded with pallets and boxes filled with frozen food, similar to the interior of a Costco or Home Depot warehouse store, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore said during Monday's news conference. There were about 85 million pounds (38.6 million kilograms) of frozen food stored inside, he said.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever get firefighters inside because the entire roof has been compromised and it is sitting on top of (those) 65-foot towers,” Moore said. “It’s extremely dangerous, and I don’t foresee ever putting our firefighters in that type of danger.”
Firefighters have been stripping away exterior walls on certain sides of the building and dousing it with heavy streams of water.
Michigan-based company Lineage Logistics, which operates the facility, said in a statement it believes the fire began when subcontractors were working on solar panels on the roof. But the official cause of the fire hasn't been determined, the company said.
Lineage is working with fire officials investigating the blaze, the statement said.
Moore said the fire department continues to investigate but that preliminary information shows Lineage, which rents the warehouse, was leasing the roof to a solar company that what was working on the panels when the fired started.
“They attempted to try to extinguish it. They dialed 911, and it was off to the races,” he said.
The facility, called Big Bear, stores products such as seafood, pork, beef and poultry before they’re shipped to grocery stores and restaurants on the U.S. West Coast, Lineage said on its website.
A message sent to Lineage seeking details about the food and the companies affected by it was not immediately returned.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended a warning about poor air quality in the area until Tuesday afternoon, saying the blaze continues to produce smoke impacting the neighborhood and areas north and east of the fire. The smoke is carrying microscopic particles known as PM2.5 that can penetrate deep into the lungs.
Light winds will also push the smoke in all directions, potentially impacting other parts of metropolitan LA, the district said.
Residents in the most impacted area were told to avoid vigorous physical activity and close all windows, doors and vents, turn off air conditioning and bring people and pets to an inside room because of the risk of hazardous air. Those who need to go outside in the smoky conditions should wear an N95 or P100 mask, health officials said.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said residents want to know what materials and chemicals were in the warehouse, what burned and what is still burning. She said air quality results should include that information and be released in English and Spanish in terms that regular people can understand.
Jurado said families, workers and other residents are “seeing the smoke and smelling the odors and finding ash and debris near their homes and businesses.”
“We still do not have enough clear information about what burned and what may still be burning,” she said.
Firefighters fight a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters work from a ladder truck while fighting a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People wear masks while watching firefighters fight a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters fight a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Smoke from a warehouse fire fills the air in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
