The thunderstorm that led to a two-hour delay in France's World Cup win over Iraq on Monday is not the only thing worrying football fans.
There is angst online that new FIFA rules mean some sides playing each other know that a draw in the group finales will put them both through to the knock-outs.
With the regards to the storm hitting in the middle of his side's game in Philadelphia, Iraq coach Graham Arnold said waiting around for so long affected his team's concentration in the 3-0 loss.
"I said to the players before we went out again it was a case of who switches on more mentally. The disappointing thing was the mistake hurt us (for the second goal)," he mused.
The weather issue was a major factor at the Club World Cup held in the United States at this time last year, with six matches facing lengthy delays due to US rules about sporting events having to be suspended when lightning is nearby.
Fans are fearing a repeat of the chaos.
"This World Cup was going so well until these thunderstorms arrived," wrote one football supporter on X.
Another said: "Temps high enough to enforce mandatory drinks breaks, high possibility of lightning breaks disrupting matches ... how was it ever a good idea to award the World Cup to America?"
The only positive for some fans was that the delay in the France game led to the unpopular hydration break being scrapped in the second half. But the weather suspension caused havoc for broadcasters and those in the stadium.
Third-placed side rule could backfire
More havoc of a different kind could follow given two FIFA tweaks for this expanded 48-team tournament.
The eight best third-placed sides will also go through to a new last 32, along with the group winners and runners-up who were the sole teams to reach the first knock-out round in previous editions.
Furthermore, FIFA - to little fanfare - has changed the way teams are ranked in the groups if they finish level on points. Instead of goal difference being the first factor, the head-to-head result or results between the teams in question has priority.
Some fans feel these two changes mean there are group stage deciders where teams playing each other both know what they have to do to progress.
"I'm torn on the new head to head tiebreaker for World Cup Groups. It feels good to reward beating a team, but a pointless final game in the groups stage is a bummer," one fan wrote on social media.
Head-to-head replacing goal difference as a World Cup tiebreaker feels like one of those rule changes everyone ignores until their team gets cooked by it," said another X user, aware that several nations have already been eliminated because of it when they would still have been in contention with goal difference.
"The head to head rule over goal differential in the World Cup is killing some last game chaos," wrote a different fan.
In Group D, co-hosts the US are certain to finish first and opponents Turkey will finish last due to head-to-heads.
So for Australia and Paraguay, who meet on Thursday, a draw would put them both on 4 points. Australia would end up second on goal difference but the South Americans would strongly hope that four points would be enough for one of the best third-placed berths.
It is the same scenario in Group F where Japan already have four points and Sweden have three. They meet in their final group game on Thursday and both would have an interest in a draw.
Austria and Algeria are both on three points in Group J and play last in the group stage on Saturday. By that point they will know exactly what is needed to progress in Kansas City. A draw might suit them both.
'Use our brain in the last minutes'
Co-hosts Canada against Switzerland on Wednesday is one group finale which could also lead to controversy, although their peculiar scenario would have happened anyway irrespective of the new rules in 2026.
They both have four points in Group B and are therefore well ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar (one each). A draw in their meeting would mean both are guaranteed to reach the knock-out stage.
Canada would be group winners and would stay in Vancouver. Switzerland would be second and would get a comparatively manageable next opponent in South Korea, South Africa or the Czech Republic.
"We’re gonna go into the game playing to win," said Canada's Derek Cornelius.
"We’re playing in front of our home crowd, they want to see us attacking more so than defending, so we’re going to try and stick to who we are and how we play. Obviously, with that being said we also need to use our brain in the last minutes of the game, seeing where the result is."
Tournament history shows that games where both teams benefit from a draw often end in a draw.
Two years ago, Romania and Slovakia drew 1-1 at the Euros in Germany - it was already clear beforehand that exactly that result would be enough for both nations to reach the round of 16.
At Euro 2004, Denmark and Sweden had the chance on the final matchday to knock Italy out with a 2-2 draw in their direct clash. The match ended with precisely that scoreline, much to the anger of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Allegations of collusion were vehemently denied by the Scandinavians.
A "non-aggression pact" like in Gijón in 1982, when West Germany agreed to the desired 1-0 win with Austria, cast a shadow over that World Cup.
FIFA will hope to avoid such a scandal this time - despite its own rule changes making it more likely.
