FIFA have confirmed that every match at the 2026 World Cup, regardless of the weather conditions, will include a three-minute interval midway through each half—dubbed “hydration breaks”—thereby effectively splitting each contest into four quarters.
This is a common concept across sports conducted by co-hosts U.S. and Canada—NFL football and NBA basketball, among others, all operate across four quarters—but it is a radically alien addition to the game of soccer.
