​Wildfire smoke and bad air quality threatens sports: Yankees, Blue Jays, World Cup Final, Phillies-Mets and more games to watch closely originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.A smoky haze has descended upon a number of cities in the northern part of the United States and into Canada.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWildfires raging in Minnesota and across the Canadian border have led to unsafe air quality ratings in a number of cities, including Toronto, New York, Buffalo and Boston.There are no guarantees about how things will progress in the days ahead, but it’s going to be a storyline worth watching as MLB comes out of the All-Star Break, and as the World Cup heads toward its final on Sunday in New Jersey.Wildfires are raging in the Duluth area of Minnesota as well as into Canada, which happened similarly last summer.The smoke from the fires is then blown on the east-bound wind into many of the cities in the Northeast of the United States, as well as the Ontario province of Canada.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMORE: How Jordan Walker overcame the bust labelAQI is the air quality index which measures the concentration of pollutants in the air.Anything between 0-50 has pretty much no risk.51-100 is moderately messy air, while going above 100 starts to become unhealthy, particularly for sensitive groups. Above 151 is unhealthy for pretty much everyone, and going above 200 is deemed “very unhealthy.”The most notable sporting event on the calendar next this week is Thursday when the Philadelphia Phillies host the New York Mets after the All-Star Break. Philly is right on the southern edge of where the poor air quality seems to be heading, so it’ll probably be OK, but there’s a chance the air is a question mark there before Thursday night’s game.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Blue Jays return to action in Toronto at home on Friday night against the Chicago White Sox. Because they can put a roof on their stadium, they’ll probably play, although travel to and from the game could be impacted for fans.The Yankees are home at the Stadium on Friday night against the Dodgers in a marquee matchup that could have a haze to it.The Boston Red Sox are home at 1:35 p.m. on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. If things trend worse by Friday, there could be some question about the safety of playing.And then the big one: The World Cup Final is on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in New Jersey. The hope will be that there’s no impact whatsoever, but if any of those nearby baseball games are impacted in the days leading up to the final, there’ll be some doubts.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRintaro Sasaki has a big choice to make between MLB and NPBCC Sabathia’s son gets drafted by one of his former teamsAfter 9 years in the minor leagues, a magical moment for Tigers catcherHow Rays turned Tim Beckham bust draft pick into Junior CamineroBarry Bonds’ nephew has a chance to be key pic