Most of the FIFA World Cup matches at Levi’s Stadium (which FIFA is calling the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the tournament) are being kicked off late at night. But the opener between Qatar and Switzerland started a few minutes after noon, and hundreds of fans ended up watching the match from the concourse to avoid overheating in their seats.

Early on Saturday, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Santa Clara County for the rest of the day, warning that temperatures were expected to reach at least 90 degrees in many parts of the region and could touch 100. In the specific zip code that includes Levi’s Stadium, the NWS said the temperature was 77 degrees at kickoff, 79 degrees at the first hydration break and up to 81 degrees at halftime. (The NWS forecasted the high for that zip code at 89 degrees, though that wouldn’t come until a few hours after the match ends.)

The heat has often caused problems for fans at Levi’s Stadium, particularly at San Francisco 49ers games in the fall, because of the stadium’s layout. The largest sections of seats face to the west and face directly into the sun as it sets. There are also very few rows of seats that overhang on the sections below it, so only a few rows at each level get a natural shade barrier.

So fans end up with a choice when facing high temperatures: sit in the sun and roast or flee the seat you paid for and watch from the concourse. On Saturday, SFGATE walked the 100-level concourse after the hydration break in the first half and throughout halftime. Behind every section, there were multiple rows of fans watching the match while standing.

And even with all of the queues for concessions and merchandise overflowing with fans, dozens more either stood in the middle around televisions or sat at picnic tables that didn’t even have a way to watch the match in sight. This was especially true on the Qatari fans’ side of Levi’s Stadium, where fans sat with the sun in their faces for the entirety of their time in the stadium.

At many American sporting events, teams sell standing-room-only tickets for the spaces behind sections. But FIFA didn’t indicate that it was selling standing room only tickets to anyone ahead of the match, like it did for the Monterrey Stadium during the final playoff tournament. If the only people in the 68,827-capacity stadium had tickets for seats, then, all of the fans on the concourse were leaving their seats to stand in the shade. That’s something FIFA claimed was happening in Guadalajara on Thursday in response to the thousands of empty seats at the Korea-Czechia match.

Once halftime came around, many fans fled to the concourse at halftime as typical during a break, clogging the areas there and leaving the stadium looking especially empty when the second half began. It certainly didn’t help that fans from both Qatar and Switzerland were out in the sunshine for hours prior to the match, with over 1,000 Swiss fans gathering at a strip mall for a 9 a.m. march down Tasman Drive to the stadium. 

Switzerland was leading Qatar 1-0 at the second half’s hydration break.

Of course, the reason why all of this happened seems like a rather simple one: television. The noon kickoff time locally meant fans in Switzerland, which is nine hours ahead of the West Coast, and Qatar, which is 10 hours ahead, could still watch this match at a reasonable hour for a Saturday.

FIFA did end up with a near-capacity crowd, announcing an attendance of 67,966. (That means there were 861 tickets that were either unsold or unused.) Those fans watched Qatar score a goal in stoppage time to end up in a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, who entered the match as heavy favorites.