New changes in football laws before the 2026 World Cup

World football is preparing to implement new amendments to the laws of the game, with the start of the 2026 World Cup finals approaching, as a five-second countdown will be adopted for the execution of throw-ins and goal kicks, in a move aimed at reducing time wastage and speeding up the pace of matches.

According to the English network ESPN, this trend came after the success of the eight-second rule imposed this season on goalkeepers, which requires them to pass the ball during this period or be subject to a penalty for calling a corner kick, which encouraged the International Football Association Board to take additional measures to address methods of disrupting play.

The Council is expected to approve these amendments during its annual meeting in Wales, where referees will be given the power to start a five-second countdown in the event of a deliberate delay in executing a throw-in or goal kick, provided that exceeding the period will lead to awarding the ball to the opposing team or awarding a corner kick in some cases.

The proposed amendments also include imposing a time limit of ten seconds for making substitutions, and if it is exceeded, the substitute player will not be allowed to enter, forcing the team to play with a temporary numerical deficiency of not less than one minute. Also, the Council seeks to standardize the length of time that injured players remain off the field after play has stopped at one minute, instead of the current disparity between tournaments, which ranges between 30 seconds in the English Premier League and three minutes in the American League.

These measures aim to maintain the rhythm of play and reduce stoppage time, in the interest of players, fans, and broadcasting rights, while maintaining the exception of goalkeeper injuries from these rules, although there are future discussions to introduce additional amendments in this aspect, especially in light of fears that some teams will exploit these cases to disrupt play.

In a related context, the 2026 World Cup will witness amendments to the video assistant referee technology, as it will be allowed to be used to quickly review corner kick decisions without disrupting play, provided that play continues if the corner kick is executed before the review ends. The technical powers will also be expanded to include reviewing red cards resulting from a second warning, and intervening if the card is given to the wrong team.

On the other hand, the experiment in amending the offside rule known as “daylight”, which was proposed by Arsene Wenger, will not currently be implemented, despite the continuing discussions about it, including the possibility of adopting a criterion based on the attacker’s torso being ahead of the penultimate defender.

It is expected that these amendments will officially enter into force as of July 1, 2026, with the possibility of applying them in some major competitions, most notably the World Cup, even before this date, in a step that reflects a clear trend towards making the game faster and fairer.