1 of 5 | Jude Bellingham and England will take on Croatia in their 2026 World Cup opener June 17 in Arlington, Texas. Photo by Friedemann Vogel/EPA
The 2026 World Cup will include hydration breaks in each half of competition, effectively splitting matches into four quarters, FIFA announced.
Water breaks also were used at last summer’s 2025 Club World Cup, which was held in the United States, but only for games played in extreme heat.
Referees at the 2026 World Cup will stop all matches 22 minutes into each half to allow players to rehydrate at the matches, which are to be played from June 11 to July 14 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“For every game, no matter where the games are played, no matter if there’s a roof, [or] temperature-wise, there will be a three-minute hydration break,” chief tournament officer Manolo Zubiria said in a news release. “It will be three minutes from whistle to whistle in both halves.”
Game clocks will not stop during the breaks. The three minutes allotted for the breaks will be added to stoppage time at the end of each half.
FIFA plans to hold three opening ceremonies before each host nation’s first game of the first-ever 48-team World Cup. Mexico will host South Africa in the first of 104 World Cup matches June 11 in Mexico City.
The United States Men’s National Team will host Paraguay in another group stage opener June 12 in Inglewood, Calif. The Americans will share Group D with Paraguay, Australia and either Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkey or Romania, who are involved in a playoff.
World Cup 2026 Draw at the Kennedy Center
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Friday, which revealed the group-stage matchups for the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup in 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
