World Cup 2026: The law changes explained – VAR, timewasting and substitutes

Fixing timewasting has been one of Collina’s top issues for quite a few years.

At the Qatar World Cup in 2022, the Italian told his officials to be precise and add everything on to stoppage time.

The opening matches all exceeded 100 minutes, with 24 minutes added on across both halves for England’s 6-2 win over Iran.

For this World Cup, the plan is to make sure players get on with the game and save lost time this way.

The idea is not strict enforcement, but deterrent measures to alter player behaviour.

Countdowns for goal-kicks and throw-ins (five seconds): If a player deliberately delays the restart of play, a goal-kick could become a corner or the throw given to the opposition.

The count will not begin when the ball goes out of play. A referee will choose to activate it if a player is taking too long.

Like the eight-second countdown after a goalkeeper has caught the ball, the referee will visibly make a count by moving an arm up and down.

This law change should be a deterrent to goalkeepers who take a long time over their kicks towards the end of games.

Previously, the only tool a referee would really have is to show one yellow card. And the keeper might just keep on doing it knowing an official is not likely to book them twice and be forced to send them off.

It is hoped that conceding a corner which could lead to conceding a goal is a more effective deterrent.

Time-limited substitutions (10 seconds): Substituted players have 10 seconds to leave the field at the nearest point. If they fail to do so, the substitute cannot enter the field for at least one minute and the team must play with 10 players.

There are a couple of exemptions – if a player is injured or there are security concerns about where they can go off, though the latter should not be an issue at the World Cup.

The new law says that the substitute will not be able to come on until play next stops. That means a team could in theory be left with 10 players for several minutes.

Take the international friendly between Japan and Iceland on 31 May.

An Iceland player took too long to leave the field, so the team had to play with 10 men for more than two minutes. The first time play stopped was when Koki Ogawa scored the only goal of the game for Japan.

The idea is not to make teams play with 10 men, but to make it such a clear deterrent that players do not waste time on substitutions.