Spain are ramping up their preparations as they get ready to take on Argentina in the World Cup Final.
La Roja are bidding to become world champions for just the second time, following on from 2010 when they won their maiden World Cup trophy thanks to a now infamous goal from Andrés Iniesta.
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But 16 years on from that 1-0 AET victory, a much tougher challenge awaits in the form of Lionel Messi and the defending champions.
Spain have also had to contend with some disruption to their preparations for Sunday’s huge contest due to hazardous air conditions as a result of smoke from wildfires burning primarily in Canada, but also in northern Minnesota.
Officials in many U.S. cities have urged local residents to stay inside, and if they are to venture outside, than to wear masks due to the air quality having reached unhealthy levels to anyone, including athletes.
In fact, smoke from wildfires – which is estimated to contain upwards of 1,000 toxins – kills tens of thousands of people a year, according to numerous medical studies, due to its ability to trigger inflammation and attack virtually every system in the body.
Spain’s players are currently training in northern New Jersey, but it is unclear how their training session on Thursday went, with media personnel only able to observe the first 15 minutes of what was scheduled to be a session lasting one hour.
“These are high-level athletes who are moving a lot of air through their lungs during every practice in every game,” Dr. Courtney Howard, Global Climate and Health Alliance official, and an emergency room physician said, via AP.
“And really they shouldn’t be practicing outside if the air quality levels are at hazardous sort of ranges for wildfire-related air pollution.
“That’s the time to schedule a practice inside. You could put an N95 mask on them, but trying to make sure that everybody’s mask is well-fitted, I suspect that’s not the best choice.
“I would go find an air-conditioned indoor facility that’s a clean-air shelter.”
On Thursday, the particle pollution in New Jersey was reportedly more than seven times higher than the standard set by the World Health Organization.
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“It’s not healthy for anyone to be in the smoke, especially if you’re exercising,” Mary Johnson, Harvard School of Public Health environmental health research scientist, said.
“You’re exchanging more air, so you’re being exposed to even more pollutants, and even healthy individuals at some point will have some type of health effect from the exposure to the smoke.
“So, even though these are healthy, young individuals, it’s not a good idea to be exercising in this type of environment.”
But according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now monitoring system, the “unhealthy” air got slightly cleaner by the mid-afternoon, which saw them change their level of risk to being “unhealthy for sensitive” groups.
Argentina, though, have so far been unaffected by the smoke – although they have experienced some travel disruption – after having opted to remain in Marietta, Georgia, to train after their 2-1 comeback victory over England on Wednesday.
The smoke is expected to clear the area well before the whistle sounds at 3 p.m local time on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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Good omens for Spain
As Spain prepare to go to battle against La Albiceleste, who have added yet more controversy to their 2026 World Cup campaign after their post-match political stunt after their win over England, it is La Roja who perhaps enter the Final with some good omens on their side.
Firstly, they are the first team in history to keep six clean sheets at a single World Cup tournament.
Furthermore, there has also been a patten stemming back 14 years that suggests that the team that wins the first semi-final, and therefore has an additional day’s rest than their opponent, often goes on to win the Final.
In 13 of the past 14 finals across men’s and women’s World Cups and European championships, that has been the case, per The Athletic.
The only time that the pattern hasn’t been followed is the Women’s Euros in 2017 when the Netherlands defeated Denmark 4-2 despite having won the second semi-final.
However, on this occasion, the final-four ties were both played on the same day, and thus there was only a two-hour difference between when the two games ended, as opposed to a whole 24 hours.
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