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 match.
Requested at a information convention on Saturday whether or not he has seen any knowledge displaying that the three-minute obligatory interval halfway by means of every half improves gamers’ skills and the circulate 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 modifications that FIFA launched on the match.
For instance, Wenger and different panellists from FIFA’s Technical Research Group lauded the rule to require gamers who request medical intervention to depart the pitch for one minute.
In keeping 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 match.
“There is a component on this affect of the rule that isn’t measurable – that’s the frustration you’re feeling when anyone is mendacity on the sector and isn’t injured,” Wenger stated. “I requested so many individuals what they consider the affect, and everyone 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 had been coated, folks weren’t pleased with it. However initially of the competitors it was determined to do it for everyone,” Wenger stated.
“Medically it was wanted in lots of video games. Now we have not come to a conclusion but, however I promise you, we’ll get one.”
Earlier than the World Cup, referees had been capable of order a hydration or cooling break throughout matches the place it was sizzling, nevertheless it was their resolution 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, through 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 really very chilly,” Egyptian fan Roger Antoine informed Al Jazeera earlier than that match.
All through the match, many followers complained concerning the mid-half interval and mocked it. They speculated that it was carried out to permit broadcasters to insert business breaks and push soccer in the direction of the mannequin of American sports activities which are constructed round TV commercials.
Through the USA opening sport 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 most important complaints concerning the hydration break is that it might change the dynamics of the sport, taking the wind out of the sails of the dominant staff and permitting the opposite aspect to reset mentally and tactically.
A number of groups have conceded virtually instantly after the hydration break.
“There’s clear proof, when you simply have a look at the numbers, of momentum being utterly swung the opposite means as quickly because the hydration break occurs, and that’s simply not the way in which soccer has been performed for 200 or so years,” Cesar Espino, a soccer fan in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera earlier this month.
