Anyone living in the northeastern portion of the United States has no doubt witnessed the borderline apocalyptic scene unfolding in the sky.The smoke from the wildfires that are currently ravaging Canada has made its way south of the border to many American cities, affecting the air quality and causing health problems for citizens in the process.Smoke from wildfires in Canada shrouds the Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, July 16, 2026.(Victor J.
Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)The question on everyone's mind, though, is whether or not the FIFA World Cup final will even be played in the shadow of the Canadian wildfire smoke.IF AIR QUALITY IS POOR, ARGENTINA COULD BE HURT BY SPAIN'S STYLE IN WORLD CUP FINAL, FOX ANALYST SAYSWith the championship game taking place in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it would mean the players and fans would be in the direct path of the smoke.FOX Weather anchor Bob Van Dillen broke down what effect the smoke would potentially have on the game as well as how we got here."We had all these fires bust out in Canada on Monday afternoon and that smoke instantly got lifted into the atmosphere," Van Dillen explained."Winds were out of the northwest and it dragged it right through the Great Lakes, and now it's setting up shop across the Mid Atlantic, New York City...
and it has been a nuisance if not hazardous for the last few days."The New York/New Jersey Stadium is pictured in East Rutherford, N.J., two days before the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on July 17, 2026.(Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)Speaking of the hazards that the smoke represents, Van Dillen broke it down in terms of Air Quality Index, or AQI.As he explains, 0-100 represents normal, healthy conditions, while anything above 101 is potentially hazardous and gets more dangerous as the number increases."Once you get to about 150 with that AQI, everybody starts to feel it and you have to start taking this thing a little bit slow when you get o...