Why the luck of playing in certain venues could de...

playHow will USMNT line up vs. Türkiye? (3:04) When the 2026 World Cup draw was held in December, coaches, players and fans all tried to discern which teams had even the slightest advantage in terms of the bracket, scheduling and travel. But there was one other, less obvious, aspect to consider: the benefit gained by playing multiple games indoors. The first time that a World Cup match was played inside was June 18, 1994, when the U.S. and Switzerland played to a 1-1 draw. It wasn't much of an advantage that day, as the humidity inside the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, was off the charts. Times -- and technology -- have changed, however. Indoor stadiums are 100% climate-controlled, making for predictable conditions. And the use of such venues in this edition of the World Cup is unprecedented. All told, there are four indoor venues -- Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Vancouver -- that will host games, totaling 31 of the tournament's 104 matches. A fifth, SoFi Stadium, has a roof, though it is open on the sides to allow ambient air inside. The remaining games will be played fully outdoors in the teeth of the American summer in such sticky places as Miami, Kansas City and East Rutherford, New Jersey. This matters because there is a clear competitive advantage for teams playing indoors. Yes, both teams drawn into a matchup at an indoor venue are playing in the same conditions. But as the tournament progresses, teams will be in matchups in which one side played its previous game indoors and the other side played its previous game outdoors -- and that could tip the scales in a significant way. Doug Casa, a professor of kinesiology at UConn, is an expert in exertional heat stroke and the CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute. The KSI conducts research into heat and hydration, injury prevention, and strength and conditioning of athletes, laborers and warfighters. Casa has led the institute since it opened in 2010, and it is named in memory of Korey Stringer, an NFL lineman who died of complications from heat stroke at the Minnesota Vikings' preseason training camp in 2001. Casa was unequivocal that teams playing in climate-controlled venues are much better off. "It's a massive, massive advantage to be playing indoors," Casa told ESPN. "The reason being is your recovery is going to be so much easier afterwards. If you play a game like in Miami, it might be three or four days before you're back to 95%. You get to play in Houston, Dallas or Atlanta, your recovery's probably going to be at least twice as fast." The time between games at this World Cup is anywhere from five to seven days, so there should be sufficient time to recover. But that additional time will impact the intensity of training sessions after a match for at least two days. Some of the players are already coming off long club seasons, so any way that recovery can be enhanced at this point is going to be a benefit. Casa explained that there are two concerns when playing outdoors in the summer. There's hyperthermia -- which is when the core body temperature gets too high -- and dehydration. Indoors, the worry over those two conditions is significantly lessened due to the controlled temperatures and humidity. "You're not going to get nearly as hyperthermic. You're not going to be as dehydrated," Casa said about playing indoors. "You're going to be able to perform a lot better indoors and your recovery is going to be a lot better if you just do the same kind of normal performance." Suffice it to say, the draw was kinder to some teams than to others in terms of playing indoors. All told, 12 countries will play two of their group stage matches at indoor venues. The list includes powerhouses such as Spain, Argentina, the Netherlands and Portugal. Co-hosts Canada will have the benefit of playing two matches at Vancouver's BC Place. Cape Verde, Congo DR, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Sweden round out the other countries playing two group stage matches indoors. If say, Argentina or Spain win their group, they may be able to benefit from two more games indoors during the knockout stages. Playing in hot and humid conditions is de rigueur for players in MLS. For a team that plays its home games indoors, like the Vancouver Whitecaps, the change from playing in a climate-controlled environment to playing at outdoor venues can be jarring. Their experience can be instructive for what teams are facing at the World Cup. "It's definitely a challenge when you have to go play in the heat just because it's probably like honestly 20, 30 degrees hotter there than it is here [in Vancouver]," Whitecaps striker Brian White said. "So that's obviously an adjustment that we have to make every time we go on the road in the summer, regardless of if we're playing inside. But definitely the change in climate from Vancouver to those places, that definitely makes it tough." play1:31Van Dijk: Every team must 'adapt quickly' to World Cup conditionsBut step

Why the luck of playing in certain venues could de...

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