Uncertainty clouds the forecast on whether wildfire smoke will affect the World Cup final

NEW YORK: Mikel Merino can smell and see the smoke from the Canadian wildfires that are making for hazy conditions across large parts of the US, including northern New Jersey where he and Spain are set to face Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Merino is trying not to focus on it.
It remains unclear how much, if at all, the smoke will affect the final. The World Health Organization forecast calls for an improvement to “moderate” air quality in East Rutherford.
“For a game that is as important as a World Cup final, you have to be able to shut out external factors as much as possible,” Merino said Friday.

“Luckily, we are being careful with every detail thanks to the federation and the organizers of the World Cup.”
Spain practiced outside in hazardous conditions in East Hanover, New Jersey, on Thursday, alarming experts who thought the team should have held the session inside instead. Messages sent to FIFA and the Spanish Football Association asking whether that was considered or possible were not returned.
Air quality improved Friday, but the uncertainty lies in what will follow what could be up to 1.25 inches (3.17 centimeters) of rain expected to fall Saturday.
“Following that, it looks like there is another smoky air mass following in behind that system, but it’s not clear right now how much or how it might reach New York or New Jersey, when it comes to actually Sunday,” said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.