Stopping the match between France and Iraq raises controversy and exposes the American hosting to criticism sports

It was not the French team’s 3-0 victory over its Iraqi counterpart that sparked the most controversy on social media, but rather the four hours that the match lasted, turning a football confrontation in the 2026 World Cup into an unprecedented historical event, which is considered the longest interruption in the history of the World Cup since its launch in 1930.

In the last minutes of the first half of the match between France and Iraq on Monday evening, it rained heavily at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, but it did not affect the game until the half ended and the players left.

However, the greatest danger was the approaching severe thunderstorm on the stadium site, which caused the match to be officially stopped and the start of the second half postponed, according to what FIFA announced, out of fear for the players and the public, which hastened the complete evacuation of the stadium, not only from the fans and players, but also from the photographers, guards, journalists, and technical and administrative crews.

The match was stopped for two hours and 13 minutes, and the fans remained standing and crowded inside the stadium’s roads throughout this period from one to three in the morning, until the thunderstorm ended and play resumed.

The reactions of the platforms on social media varied, as an episode (06/23/2026) of the “Shabakat” program monitored this controversy. Some attacked the poor organization and questioned America’s ability to host the event, while others defended the safety protocols and saw in the decision the protection of lives above all else.

These exceptional circumstances angered some people. Fahd commented:

It is a shame. Even the World Cup during the World War did not stop the match for two hours. This is a black spot in hosting America

As for Basil, he considered that the decision to postpone was normal in a country known for thundery weather like America, so he wrote:

I find the decision to postpone the match very natural, because America is a rain-fed country… and this makes the floor splash with water… and if you want them (you want them) to continue, you will see all kinds of slippers, the ball is not running, and the game is dead, and it does not look like a World Cup match.

While Ivey attacked America’s management of the crisis, considering that the nature of the country requires the provision of covered stadiums, he commented:

America could have eliminated all these problems due to the suspensions… It has many closed stadiums, which were originally designed due to snow and thunderstorms.

An account named (Memo) commented angrily, writing:

I mean, the fans paid thousands of dollars to watch only 45 minutes of the World Cup?! Then they go to their hotels, full of wet clothes!

FIFA had issued warnings hours before the start of this match, advising the public not to come to the stadium due to bad weather conditions. The gates did not open on the scheduled date, but the fans did not heed those warnings and went to attend the match.