England vs Argentina kick-off could be moved as new World Cup fears emerge

Kick-off in England's World Cup semi-final clash against Argentina could be delayed due to thunderstorms being forecast in Atlanta. Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions are set to face the defending world champions at the Atlanta Stadium with kick-off at 8pm UK time. The United Kingdom is five hours ahead of Atlanta, Georgia, and the BBC are currently forecasting thunderstorms from 2pm local time right through until 7pm.

United States laws require FIFA to immediately stop play if lightning strikes are detected within an eight-mile radius of the host stadium. That could mean the semi-final is affected, even though the ground has a retractable roof that will remain closed for the entire game, due to the threat any bad weather could pose to fans outside pre-match.

There's then a delay of at least 30 minutes, resetting each time a new lightning strike hits the area. If there are lightning strikes, as forecast by the BBC, there could be significant delays with players needing 15 minutes to warm up before play resuming.

If storms are as severe as forecast, kick-off could be delayed by four hours, meaning the game could start around 12am on Thursday morning.

It wouldn't be the first game England have had that's been impacted by thunder and lightning. Kick-off in their last 16 clash with Mexico was delayed for an hour, with the game finally getting underway at 2pm UK time.

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There had been some suggestions that kick-off would be brought forward to 7pm UK time from its original 1am slot, but FIFA opted against the decision.

England's final warm-up game for the World Cup was also impacted by thunderstorms, delaying kick-off.

The severe weather has been a major talking point throughout the tournament, with England's quarter-final win against Norway taking place in 33 degree heat.

England boss Tuchel was unhappy with his side's performance in that win, though star man Jude Bellingham defended the team in his post-match interview.

"Maybe he [Tuchel] doesn't know what it's like to play in those conditions against [Erling] Haaland, [Martin] Odegaard, [Antonio] Nusa and [Alexander] Sorloth," Bellingham said post-match. "They're not an easy team to play against.

"I can't speak highly enough of the lads. You can't win every game popping the ball and making 1,000 passes, sometimes you have to win dirty and we did that today."