A few hours after Lionel Messi and the Argentine World Cup team checked into their training base in Kansas City, a series of thunderstorms pounded the area, knocking out power, felling trees and bringing flood and tornado warnings.

Hardly ideal conditions for the world’s biggest soccer tournament. Yet that’s likely just the opening salvo of a disruptive weather system that could affect the 38-day competition, which kicks off next week with games in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

“It’s pretty safe to say climate change is going to have a mark on this World Cup,” said Kaitlyn Trudeau, a senior research associate of climate science for Sacramento-based Climate Central. “With climate change we know it’s not just going to be hotter, but it’s also going to increase the humidity as well.”

And that could make this summer’s World Cup one of the last of its kind. Tournament soccer in June and July has been a tradition dating to the first World Cup in 1930, but since then global temperatures in June have warmed by 1.89 degrees, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That may not sound like a lot, but it takes many days and nights of extreme heat to move the needle that much.

“It can be a very dangerous situation,” Trudeau said.

As a result, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has already begun discussions on moving the start of the tournament from June to March or October after 2030. In the meantime, early kickoffs, cooling breaks, air-conditioned stadiums and regular weather-related delays will necessarily become common features of the tournament, according to “Pitches in Peril,” a detailed report on the impact of climate change on global soccer, released in the run-up to the World Cup.

“Football’s all of a sudden starting to reckon with the new climate realities,” said Elliot Arthur-Worsop, founding director of Football For Future, a pioneering U.K. nonprofit and co-publisher of “Pitches in Peril.”

“Extreme weather events are becoming more unpredictable,” he said. “The players, the spectators and the officials, they’re all at risk here, especially when it comes to extreme heat. How can we future-proof the game?

“Adaptation looks like moving the entire tournament to another time of year to deal with the extreme weather. Short term it could be moving the kickoff times, it could be introducing more drink breaks, having more heat protocols and safety regulations.”

Some climatologists fear summer events like the World Cup and Olympic Games are just one heatwave away from a major weather-related tragedy. In fact, Arthur-Worsop said his group’s study found that this men’s World Cup, the first held in North America in 32 years, will likely be the last played here.

“By the time the cycle of awarding the hosting rights would possibly come back, our climate projections show that the tournament in its current form would be unplayable due to extreme weather events,” he said. “Not only heat, but other compounding threats such as extreme wind and flooding and wildfires.”

Trudeau worries that whatever adaptations are eventually adopted won’t keep pace with a rapidly warming planet.

“We are basically pushing ourselves to a limit,” she said. “I’m not saying we’re going to absolutely lose the World Cup. But we are making it so much harder to find time to safely enjoy these kinds of events.

“This is not a safe environment and we should not be putting people’s lives at risk just to watch a game.”

FIFA did move the 2022 World Cup, pushing the start of the tournament in Qatar from June to November. Even then the games had to be played in air-conditioned stadiums, though. Three of the 16 venues to be used this summer — in Atlanta, Houston and Arlington, Texas — are domed and climate-controlled.

But the next World Cup, to be held in 2030, will be played mostly in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, where June and July temperatures frequently top 95 degrees. And just one of the likely venues is climate-controlled.

As for this summer’s tournament, a 2025 study published in the International Journal of Biometeorology found that conditions in 14 of the 16 World Cup host cities are likely to exceed the extreme Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) threshold, an advanced index used to measure how the human body experiences heat stress.

But you don’t have to do complicated math to know it’s hot because there’s also the “feels like” index, which registers how your body feels the heat. That can be vastly different from the reading on a thermometer. In Miami, for example, where seven World Cup games will be played, humidity will make an air temperature of 90 degrees “feel like” 109 degrees.

Under those conditions, it becomes more difficult for the body to cool itself.

“We talk about temperatures all the time, but that is only one part of the equation. It’s not including the amount of heat that you might feel from humidity,” Trudeau said. “It’s so important because once it gets too humid, then our body’s main cooling mechanism, sweating, is no longer possible.

“These are the kinds of situations where you have to be really careful. Not just players, but also people who maybe work at the stadiums, people who are watching the matches. It can be a very dangerous situation.”

Playing games in the cooler evening hours could alleviate that but FIFA, in a nod to TV viewers in Europe, scheduled 40 of the tournament’s 104 games, including the majority of games in the knockout rounds, to kick off at 3 p.m. or earlier local time. And though mandatory three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half have been added, Trudeau questions their impact.

“That’s kind of silly to be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to give an extra water break. But we’re going to be doing it at the hottest time of the day,’” she said. “It kind of sends mixed messages, right? What is the main priority of FIFA here? Is it to get the most views and the most revenue and the most whatever? Or is it to actually protect these players?

“We should not be having these in the hottest parts of the world at the hottest times of day,” she continued. “It’s just common sense.”

Chelsea’s Benoit Badiashile puts water on his face before a Club World Cup match against Esperance de Tunis in Philadelphia in June 2025.

(Francois Nel / Getty Images)

FIFA defended the schedule, saying in a statement that climate-related risks are assessed as part of overall tournament planning and managed in close coordination with the host cities, stadium authorities and national agencies.

“Building on experience from recent tournaments, a tiered heat-mitigation model will apply,” the statement continued. “When forecasts indicate elevated temperatures, venues will activate additional cooling capacity, including shaded areas, misting systems, cooling buses and expanded water distribution. Work-rest cycles for staff and volunteers are adapted accordingly, and first-aid readiness is reinforced with clear triage and escalation pathways for suspected heat illness. These measures scale dynamically based on real-time conditions before and during each event.”

Last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, a 63-game tournament played in the U.S. as a kind of dress rehearsal for this year’s event, gives an indication of the problems ahead. That tournament was plagued not just by high heat and humidity, but also by thunderstorms and lightning that paused or delayed a half-dozen matches in Orlando, Fla.; Nashville; Cincinnati; Charlotte, N.C.; and East Rutherford, N.J.

“The heat is incredible,” said Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who played in last summer’s tournament with Chelsea. “I got a bit dizzy during a play. I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy.

“Playing in this temperature is very dangerous.”

But if health risks are the primary concern of summer sporting events on a warming planet, they aren’t the only ones. The weather also affects the quality of play, said Norwegian defender Julian Ryerson, who played for Borussia Dortmund in last summer’s club tournament.

“Football is different when you play in this humidity and heat,” he said. “It is really tough. You take some precautions. That’s the only way to go about it.”

As the planet continues to bake, there are also increasingly fewer ways of going about staging a World Cup. You can play it nontraditional times and in nontraditional places. You can play it indoors in air-conditioned stadiums.

Or you can not play it at all.

“We’re running out of options,” Trudeau said. “We have to understand that unless we are going to address human-caused climate change, you’re going to start losing these things that are culturally important to us or economically important.

“We cannot keep doing these things at the rate we’re doing them and the times that we’re doing them in the ways that we’re doing them while we also continue to warm the planet.”

Denver Broncos star Jonathon Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested on domestic violence charges on Friday.

Both Cooper and his girlfriend were held on suspicion of two counts of domestic violence and one count of criminal mischief, according to Douglas County jail records.

An argument broke out between the two over cheating allegations, according to TMZ.

The pair, who have been seeing each other on and off for years, were hanging out at Cooper’s residence when she confronted him over his alleged infidelity. The woman grabbed Cooper’s phone and threw it against a wall, and then eventually regained control of the device to go through it, the arrest affidavit said, according to TMZ.

Cooper and the woman then struggled for the phone, which Cooper eventually retrieved after a physical struggle. He then demanded that the woman leave his home, or he allegedly told her he would break her cell phone, the probable cause affidavit said, per TMZ.

After the woman did not leave, he bit down and broke the screen on the iPhone, according to the affidavit.

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Cooper had a hearing at 9:45 a.m. in a Douglas County courtroom, and a follow-up hearing will be held on Monday, when Cooper is expected to enter a plea, according to 9NEWS.

Following the hearing, Cooper was released on a personal recognizance bond, according to 9NEWS’ report.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Broncos and Cooper’s agency for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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Cooper, 28, has been with the Broncos since they drafted him out of Ohio State in the seventh round of the NFL Draft, and he has spent all five seasons of his career with Denver.

In 17 games last season, Cooper recorded 50 tackles and eight sacks and was a key member of the Broncos’ stout defense. In his career, Cooper has played 81 games, recording 266 tackles and 31.5 sacks.

The Broncos signed him to a four-year, $60 million contract extension in November 2024.

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Alison Lee is trying to balance a major championship and motherhood.

So far, so good.

The former UCLA standout shot a 68 at Riviera Country Club on Friday to inch to the top of the leaderboard in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open, putting the devoted mom in prime position for a weekend run at her first major victory.

Lee grew up in Valencia, and that’s where she’s staying this week so her parents can watch their 13-month-old grandson, Levi Todd Kidd, who late Friday afternoon was perched on his mother’s lap in the scoring tent.

“I will say over the last few months it’s been tough,” Lee conceded earlier this week. “But we had a breakthrough last week and he’s sleeping a lot better. Therefore, my life has been a lot easier.”

Lee, who shot 70 on Thursday, likewise could be on the verge of a career breakthrough. She has yet to win on the LPGA Tour.

“To win in basically my backyard would be super cool,” she said.

She isn’t the only local player with momentum heading into the weekend. Fellow Bruin Patty Tavatanakit is three shots off the lead, as is Allisen Corpuz, who played at USC.

In Gee Chun reacts her par putt on the eighth hole during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

On an afternoon that was cooler and grayer than Thursday, the woman ranked No. 1 in the world got back on track. After shooting a 73 in the opening round, Nelly Korda relocated her rhythm with four birdies on her way to a 67, earning some cheers from a gallery that, though relatively modest, was the biggest of the day.

Lee was among a small group of players who shot a 68. That included “Dumbo” — South Korea’s In Gee Chun — who got that nickname years ago because of her exceptionally keen hearing. She has embraced the moniker. The Disney character adorns her golf bag and is her driver headcover, and her fans refer to themselves as the “Flying Dumbos.”

Chun is in the hunt for her fourth major championship, having won the Open in 2015, Evian in 2016, and Women’s PGA in 2022.

Were Chun to win this tournament, she would be in rarefied air with bookend victories separated by 11 years. According to Elias Sports Bureau, among women with multiple U.S. Open titles, Meg Mallon had the longest gap (13 years apart), followed by Annika Sorenstam (10 years).

Of course, there’s a big difference between being at a logjam atop the leaderboard on Friday and lifting the Harton S. Semple Trophy on Sunday.

“Just stick to the game plan, nothing changes,” Chun said of her mindset heading into the weekend. “I don’t want to think about the future to put extra pressure on me.”

Jennifer Kupcho, who led the field with a 66 on Thursday, has her own way of dealing with external pressure. She talks to her mom before and after a tournament — but not during it.

Ruoning Yin hits out of a green side bunker on No. 17 during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday. Yin is tied with Lee for the lead at four-under through 138 holes.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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“Me and my mom kind of have an understanding,” she said, “like, ‘Just don’t text me. I don’t want to hear from you if I play good. I don’t want to hear from you if I play bad. We’ll talk at the end of the tournament.’”

Kupcho, raised in Colorado, said she hasn’t banned her folks from attending, “But I don’t think they’re going to.”

Maybe she could have used a sympathetic ear Friday. After leading outright Thursday, she came back to earth Friday with a 73 but was still only a shot off the leader.

Jennifer Kupcho hits out of a fairway bunker on No. 9 during the second round of the 81st U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The same could not be said for Michelle Wie West, who followed a 75 with a 74 — a deflating finish for the LPGA legend who came out of retirement to use her final year of exemption to play at Riviera.

“Obviously I would be lying to say I wasn’t disappointed. I would have loved to have made the cut today, granted all day,” Wie West said. “But I had a blast honestly, with playing here at Riv, such a special week to have played it, and to have family, friends, a lot of familiar faces coming out, it was a lot of fun.

“I hit some good shots, hit some good putts, and kind of felt that feeling again, which is awesome.”

Nelly Korda misses a birdie putt on No.3 during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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