If smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to pose a problem in New Jersey ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, US President Donald Trump will “not hesitate” to ask for the game to be moved, United States Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told Global News.
The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The state and 17 others are under an air quality warning due to wildfires raging in the Canada-US border region.
“If the pollution is so severe that it poses a danger to players or fans, the first person to say that the game should be canceled will be the President of the United States,” Hoekstra said.
The diplomat said that negotiations are currently underway with the International Football Federation (FIFA) regarding air quality before the final match. The United States “does not intend to jeopardize the health and well-being of players or people around the world” by holding the game in unsafe conditions, the ambassador emphasized.
Forest fires in Minnesota and neighboring Canada have led to heavy smoke in parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeastern United States, RTVI previously reported. Evacuations of local residents and tourists near the fire zones are being actively carried out, and air pollution levels in some cities, including Detroit, Minneapolis and New York, have reached dangerous levels.
“Air quality is one of the worst in the world”: RTVI subscribers told how the USA and Canada live in smoke from fires
“The smell of burning and the red sun” is how our subscribers from the USA and Canada describe the consequences of large-scale forest fires. We asked those who are currently at the epicenter… https://t.co/wVnNup7cUL pic.twitter.com/OLVwVb459i
— RTVI (@rtvimedia) July 17, 2026
Smoke from nearly 900 active wildfires in Canada spreads over a thousand miles (1,600 km), ABC News reports. As experts note, it can negatively affect human health depending on the air quality index and proximity to the fire, since it contains small particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs.
“People with chronic health conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and pregnant women should be especially careful about inhaling wildfire smoke,” ABC News said.
While the smoke will impact the U.S. throughout the weekend, it is too early to tell where it will be by Sunday afternoon, the network said. Air quality levels are forecast to drop from “unhealthy” to “moderate” by the end of the sporting event. However, this will depend on the intensity of the fire, the speed at which the fire is extinguished and the weather.
On Friday, brief rain and thunderstorms are possible in Ontario, Canada, but they will not be enough to put out forest fires, ABC News notes. Wind can aggravate the situation, and lightning can lead to new fires, the TV channel emphasizes.
Some experts share this point of view. Bob Oravec, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service (NWS) in Maryland, told the Associated Press (AP) that the smoke won't stop anytime soon as the fires continue to rage “virtually out of control.”
“The source of smoke will persist for at least another week. Everything will depend on which direction the wind is blowing and where the smoke spreads the most,” Oravec explained.
As of Saturday, July 18, some of the worst air quality indicators in the world, according to IQAir, were in New York and Washington, and Toronto, Canada, ranked first for pollution. Trump himself, who is going to attend the World Cup final and present the cup to the winners of the match, also criticized the northern neighbor of the United States. The head of the White House called the cause of the fires “deliberate negligence” of the Canadian authorities, which is becoming an “annual problem” and costing the United States “billions of dollars.”
“We hold Canada accountable for failing to properly manage its forests and forests, allowing dirty, polluted and unhealthy air of dangerous and completely unacceptable quality to flow into the United States,” Trump wrote in Truth Social.
The Republican noted his intention to call the Prime Minister of Canada to “find out what they are going to do about it” and emphasized the “incalculable” damage due to Ottawa’s inaction. Pollution control costs need to be added to the tariffs Canada currently pays, Trump added.
