Pakistan, July 19 -- Smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the northeastern US in a dystopian haze on Saturday, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish-grey and prompting health warnings on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final.

The marquee match, pitting Argentina against Spain, will be played on Sunday at the open-air MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just across the river from New York City, where the skyline was obscured by dense smoke, and people wore masks outdoors.

The final is scheduled to kick off at 3 pm local time and is expected to draw more than 80,000 spectators. Organisers were monitoring air quality, although no schedule change had been announced.

NYC briefly ranked as the world's most polluted city on Sa...