Lincoln Financial Field's Nightmare: Nearly Two Hours of Lightning Shut Down France vs. Iraq

Man, you gotta hear about this wild scene out of Philly today! France and Iraq were trying to get a soccer game in at Lincoln Financial Field, and Mother Nature just said, "Nah, not today." We're talking a nearly two-hour weather delay that completely shut down the second half. It's truly wild stuff when the elements dictate the game like that.

The First Half Downpour and The Lightning Strike

Can you even imagine this? This whole thing kicked off at 5:00 p.m. ET, and apparently, the first half was a total wash, literally. Torrents of rain were just dumping on Lincoln Financial Field. But hey, they powered through for the first 45 minutes, right? Then halftime hit, and boom, lightning strikes. Not an actual bolt hitting the field, but lightning in the area. That was it. Game over for a while. The game did not resume after halftime, all thanks to that lightning, pushing the delay to nearly two hours. They weren't even expecting to get back on the

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field until 8:00 p.m. ET. Talk about a buzzkill for everyone there.

Future Forecasts Look Stormy For Outdoor Matches

This ain't just a one-off, either. The report says this is an ongoing risk for other outdoor matches throughout the balance of the tournament. It's especially true for games played late in the day, after that summer heat and humidity have had a chance to fire up some electrical storms. You gotta wonder if this is the new normal for open-air soccer in the summer. This situation will be particularly relevant on Sunday, July 19th, when the final match kicks off at MetLife Stadium at 3:00 p.m. ET. You can't just expect these fields to hold up when the weather goes sideways, man. So, yeah, France vs. Iraq got completely derailed, stuck waiting until 8:00 p.m. ET to maybe restart. The big question now is, what does this mean for the rest of the tournament? Are we gonna see more games get put on hold like this? Better keep an eye on that MetLife Stadium final on July 19th. That could be a wild one, rain or shine. Or, you know, lightning.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.