The mandatory hydration breaks introduced at the 2026 World Cup will be reviewed once the tournament ends. Arsene Wenger admitted that the measure has not been universally popular despite being introduced as a measure for player welfare in the hot and humid condition of North America.
FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development said the governing body would analyse the impact of the compulsory three-minute stoppages before deciding whether they should remain part of future tournaments.
“Sometimes people didn’t like it,” Wenger said at the FIFA Technical Study Group’s final press conference. “In many games, especially when the stadium was covered, people were not happy with it, but at the start of the competition it was decided to do it for everybody.”
The breaks, introduced in every match across the United States, Mexico and Canada regardless of weather conditions, have drawn criticism for interrupting the flow of games while also creating additional commercial windows for broadcasters. Many coaches have used the break to bring in tactical changes, but Wenger feels the stoppages had no impact on the results of the games.
“It didn’t look to me that it changed the results, but we are here to serve people that watch football and we will analyse after the World Cup what the impact was and come to conclusions afterwards,” Wenger said.
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The Frenchman also defended FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, arguing that fears over a decline in quality had been emphatically disproved.
“That was questioned before it started,” Wenger said. “We found that it was ethically needed to give a chance to everybody or to more teams to represent football. Overall, I am convinced that it was the right decision and it was a great success.
“There were question marks about whether the countries were good enough, and they were given the answer. Not only have they shown that they were good enough, but they gave some great games and entertainment.”
Wenger highlighted Cabo Verde’s run as one example of how the gap between football’s traditional powers and emerging nations has narrowed through improved coaching and technical development.
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Published on Jul 19, 2026