John Riordan: North America's World Cup could be hotter than Qatar

Currently the US is dealing with adverse weather conditions that could well have intensified by the time the first World Cup teams land to prepare.

HEATING UP: A digital thermometer measures the temperature at the al-Janoub Stadium in Doha, which will host matches of the World Cup later this year. Picture: Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images

Last weekend, we hit the six month mark from the World Cup final in Qatar. A lot has been made about how that feels unnatural and wrong. Just the other day, Colin Sheridan captured it nicely in these pages about how World Cups provide “a cadence, a rhythm and a rhyme. A soundtrack to our summers”.

He’s right and he writes it so well. Our football body clocks are way out of whack. In the natural order of things, we should be starting the Round of 16. There should have been a shock exit or two. There should be a fortnight’s worth of strong storylines, good goals and bad haircuts.