Tunisia vs Netherlands live updates: Weather latest with World Cup game to kick off as scheduled

Normally, FIFA strictly mandates that final group stage matches start simultaneously. (You can thank the 1982 “Disgrace of Gijón,” where West Germany and Austria effectively stopped playing after an early 1-0 German lead, ensuring both European teams advanced while eliminating Algeria, who had played the previous day).

So, if severe weather delays the Netherlands-Tunisia match in Kansas City, do fans at the Group F finale in Dallas (Japan vs Sweden) have to sit around waiting for a kickoff hundreds of miles away?

Nope. Here is what Article 12.4 of the FIFA rulebook states:

“The last two matches in each group shall have simultaneous kick-off times on the same day, unless stipulated otherwise by Fifa (e.g. in cases of force majeure).”

The Athletic has confirmed that severe weather delays fall under force majeure. So, if thunderstorms stall the kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium, the game in Arlington will proceed exactly on time at 6:00 p.m. CT.