Rain has been falling for hours in Recife, Brazil, the site of today's World Cup match between the United States and Germany, a critical game that will determine whether the U.S. team advances to the next round of the tournament.

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FIFA officials said Thursday at a press conference that the match is scheduled to go on as planned at 12:00 ET, but referees will inspect the field about an hour before game time and will have the final say on whether or not play begins.

Neil Buethe, the director of communications for U.S. Soccer, said this morning that he'd seen the pitch at Recife's Arena Pernambuco and it "looks fine."

"[It's] not flooded," he added. "Will be soft."

Flooding and landslides marred the start of the World Cup opener in the coastal city Natal, where torrential rains in the days leading up to the opening match destroyed homes, inundated streets and forced the evacuations of dozens of people.

Dozens of American fans on their way to today's match were forced to abandon their cars and try to make it to the stadium on foot:

Today's heavy rain follows several days of precipitation for Recife, a coastal city in northern Brazil of about 1.5 million people.

Meanwhile, local residents and tourists there have been posting photos on social media today of the scene on the streets there, which bodes ill for anyone trying to get anywhere.