ATLANTA - Football fans from all over the world came to Atlanta for a beautiful game, then Atlanta weather stepped onto the pitch.
What we know:
Tens of thousands of soccer lovers packed the stands Thursday afternoon to watch South Africa play to a 1-1 draw against Czechia. Once the match concluded, a wave of fans and torrential rain flooded the streets outside Atlanta Stadium.
The celebration quickly turned into a logistical headache away from the stadium.
A regional tornado watch led federal officials to issue a strict ground stop at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The timing proved brutal, as the severe weather kicked off what airport officials had already warned would be an incredibly busy travel weekend. Airport managers announced Thursday on X that they expect nearly 400,000 travelers to pass through the facility between Thursday and Monday.
Derik Fine of Baltimore and George Kvita of Orlando were two of the many travelers caught in the chaos.
Both men had traveled to Atlanta to cheer on their countrymen on the World Cup pitch, only to see their return flights crippled by the tracking storms.
Fine's flight was one of more than 200 delayed by the weather, while Kvita's flight home was canceled entirely.
What they're saying:
"I mean, when else am I going to do that?" Fine said before entering security to face the massive delays.
"We have a tornado watch and our flight got canceled. Now we're probably stuck until tomorrow," Kvita, a dedicated Czechia fan, said after being stranded at the gate.
Despite the travel misery, both men still count the day as a victory and say it was well worth it to cross a World Cup match off their bucket lists. "It was definitely worth it. It was awesome," Kvita said.
By the numbers:
Data from the FlightAware "Misery Map" painted a bleak picture for anyone trying to fly out of Georgia on Thursday evening. Far from a draw, if misery were a match, Atlanta won in a blowout. Tracking metrics confirmed the airport suffered 215 cancellations and 14 delays and counting as the front moved through.
What we don't know:
Officials have not yet confirmed how many additional international flights will face cancellations or if airlines will add extra routes on Friday to clear the backlog. It also remains unknown if the airport will provide emergency overnight accommodations for the thousands of fans currently stuck at the gates.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from official travel statements posted by Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on X, real-time tracking data from FlightAware, and on-scene interviews with tournament spectators Derik Fine and George Kvita.