FIFA Fan Festival Houston closed on Monday due to expected weather, organizers say: Live updates

As tropical downpours are expected to drench Houston on Monday, FIFA officials have decided to close the fan festival preemptively.

The announcement was made late Sunday night on an official FIFA account for the Houston area.

Organizers of the FIFA Fan Festival Houston said the safety of everyone involved was a top priority, and the host committee looked forward to welcoming fans back as soon as conditions allow.

ABC13's Chief Meteorologist Travis Herzog extended the ABC13 Weather Watch as the possibility for street flooding is expected from Monday through Wednesday, and tropical downpours could drop anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of rain over Southeast Texas.

FIFA organizers did not say whether or not the closure would be extended should weather conditions remain a concern.

Despite the rain at FIFA's Fan Festival, soccer fans remained undeterred, and Houston's first World Cup match is now officially in the books.

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Weather conditions forced the temporary closure of the FIFA Fan Festival for the second time on Sunday, organizers said.

As a system of thunderstorms moved over East Downtown, organizers said entry to the event was temporarily paused.

Sunday was the first day Houston hosted a FIFA World Cup match, and fans gathered to watch Germany defeat Curacao.

Fans at the festival were forced to go home around noon due to weather conditions, but that closure only lasted an hour.

Around 7 p.m., the new round of rain and lightning prompted the second closure.

FIFA officials said the gates will be reopened as weather conditions permit.

Houston Stadium, previously known as NRG Stadium and set to revert to its original name, Reliant Stadium, was nearly full as Space City hosted its first FIFA World Cup match, according to NRG officials.

According to NRG spokesperson Nina Jackson, the stadium attendance reached 68,021 on the first match of the FIFA World Cup in Houston. According to NRG Park's website, the stadium's capacity is anywhere from 72,000 to 80,000, depending on the seating configuration.

The announcement comes after viewers noticed empty seats at FIFA matches in the Bay Area and Guadalajara.

On Saturday in the Bay Area, the Associated Press reported thousands of empty seats scattered around Levi's Stadium, currently known as San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the World Cup.

On Friday, FIFA officials blamed empty seats seen at Guadalajara Stadium on fans watching the game from the concourses.

The controversy over empty seats comes after FIFA defended the record-high ticket prices for this year's World Cup.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.