FIFA will analyse the affect of hydration breaks after the World Cup, says Arsene Wenger a day earlier than the ultimate.
Revealed On 19 Jul 2026
FIFA’s chief of soccer improvement, Arsene Wenger, has acknowledged that some followers are sad with the hydration break launched at the World Cup for the primary time, suggesting that the game’s governing physique has not decided on whether or not to maintain it past the event.
Requested at a information convention on Saturday whether or not he has seen any knowledge exhibiting that the three-minute necessary interval halfway by means of every half improves gamers’ skills and the movement of the sport, Wenger stated: “No.”
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“Typically folks didn’t prefer it, and we have now to analyse after the World Cup what’s the affect,” the previous Arsenal supervisor informed reporters.
“It didn’t look to me that it modified the outcomes of competitors. However we’re right here to serve individuals who watch soccer, and we’ll come to conclusions after the competitors.”
His non-committal assertion on the New York New Jersey Stadium that may host the ultimate between Argentina and Spain on Sunday stood in distinction along with his reward for different adjustments that FIFA launched on the event.
For instance, Wenger and different panellists from FIFA’s Technical Examine Group lauded the rule to require gamers who request medical intervention to go away the pitch for one minute.
In accordance with FIFA, the brand new regulation decreased the variety of medical interventions from 2.3 instances per match in 2022 to 1.6 on this event.
“There is a component on this affect of the rule that isn’t measurable – that’s the frustration you are feeling when any individual is mendacity on the sector and isn’t injured,” Wenger stated. “I requested so many individuals what they consider the affect, and all people was so constructive about it.”
However when it got here to the hydration break, the FIFA official stated followers have misgivings.
“In some video games, particularly the place the stadiums have been lined, folks weren’t pleased with it. However at the beginning of the competitors it was determined to do it for everyone,” Wenger stated.
“Medically it was wanted in lots of video games. We’ve got not come to a conclusion but, however I promise you, we are going to get one.”
Earlier than the World Cup, referees have been in a position to order a hydration or cooling break throughout matches the place it was sizzling, however it was their determination to make, not a rule. Furthermore, the pause lasted about 90 seconds versus the total three minutes on the ongoing tournament.
The official justification for the break is to guard gamers from the warmth, however the rationale made little sense in matches performed in air-conditioned stadiums or when the climate was cool.
For instance, throughout the Egypt-Iran match in Seattle on the group stage, it was round 16 levels Celsius (60 levels Fahrenheit), however the gamers nonetheless needed to pause for 3 minutes in every half.
“In the event that they do a hydration break tonight, that’s going to be actually humorous as a result of it’s truly very chilly,” Egyptian fan Roger Antoine informed Al Jazeera earlier than that match.
All through the event, many followers complained concerning the mid-half interval and mocked it. They speculated that it was carried out to permit broadcasters to insert industrial breaks and push soccer in direction of the mannequin of American sports activities which might be constructed round TV commercials.
Through the USA opening recreation in opposition to Paraguay in Los Angeles, the place the stadium is roofed, one steward referred to the match segments as “quarters” because of the hydration breaks.
One of many foremost complaints concerning the hydration break is that it could change the dynamics of the sport, taking the wind out of the sails of the dominant workforce and permitting the opposite aspect to reset mentally and tactically.
A number of groups have conceded nearly instantly after the hydration break.
“There’s clear proof, should you simply take a look at the numbers, of momentum being fully swung the opposite method as quickly because the hydration break occurs, and that’s simply not the best way soccer has been performed for 200 or so years,” Cesar Espino, a soccer fan in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera earlier this month.
