There are new rules from FIFA for the 2026 World Cup. Some of these are going to be absolute game changers. Which one stands out to you the most?
Time-Wasting & Restarts
• Five-Second Rule: Referees can raise their hand and initiate a 5-second countdown for players to take throw-ins and goal kicks. If the ball is not in play by the end of the countdown, possession is handed to the defending team, or a corner is awarded to the opponent. Love this. It will keep the game running smoothly!
• 10-Second Substitutions: Players being subbed off have 10 seconds to leave the pitch at the nearest exit. If they exceed this time, their replacement must wait one full minute before entering, leaving the team with 10 players in the interim. No kore lollygagging off the pitch!
Medical & Hydration
• 60-Second Rule: Outfield players who require on-field medical treatment must leave the pitch and wait for 60 seconds after the match resumes before returning. God bless!!!! This should cut down on flopping big time. Much needed. Whatcha gonna do now EVERY SINGLE South American team in the tournament??!!
• No Tactical Timeouts: Stoppages for goalkeeper injuries can no longer be used as an opportunity for outfield players to receive coaching instructions. Meh. I’m fine with this one.
• Hydration Breaks: Mandatory 3-minute hydration breaks will be implemented in each half to combat the extreme heat in host cities. This is an oldy bit a goodie as it will be hitting some cities.
Player Conduct
• Covering Mouths: Any player who uses their hand, arm, or shirt to cover their mouth during a confrontation with an opponent will be issued a straight red card. Friendly or private conversations do not incur this penalty. Wow! What an incredible subjective grey area. Can’t wait for this one to absolutely ruin a game.
• Protesting: Players or staff who leave the pitch in protest of a refereeing decision will receive a red card, and teams risk forfeiting the match if they cause it to be abandoned. Looking at you Senegal!
Expanded VAR Technology
• The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system has been expanded to catch obvious mistakes on corner-kick awards, certain second-yellow card incidents, and potential attacking fouls that occur before a set piece. Done with this as long as they get it right.
Those are your new rules for the 2026 World Cup!
Don’t we have enough chicks in Croatia to play water polo for the NT ?
Why does the Croatia NT have to take rejects from England
Pathetic
LMAO
We wrote about a week ago that 19-year-old Amelie Perkins , a former member of the British water polo team, born in July 2007 in the English city of Coventry, had contacted our national team coach ( Mia Šimunić ) with the desire to obtain Croatian citizenship and play for Croatia.
– Croatia is a country that has a significant place in the history of water polo, and recently these girls have achieved some great results. They have a very young and talented team, and when I spoke to Mija, I was really impressed by her ambition, her passion. After that, I knew that I wanted to be a part of that story and that I wanted to contribute to future successes.
So says the girl from Coventry, who is a player for the solidly strong Italian first division team Plebiscito from Padova. What we have managed to gather from some of our sources is that Perkins’ decision to leave the British team was also “godfathered” by some misunderstandings in her relations with the local association. In principle, the depth or essence of these possible misunderstandings does not interest us too much. They do not concern us, or rather, the only thing that matters to us is that Croatia is getting a truly potentially exceptionally talented, quality player, a anchor. Finally, if she were not of high quality, she would hardly be playing in Serie A, which is one of the strongest women’s water polo leagues in the world.
– I simply decided that Croatia is my option for the future. I would like to contribute to the Croatian national team, qualify for the world championships, the Olympic Games. I think I could grow with a coach like Mia Šimunić, and I would also like to experience the way of life in Croatia, playing for Mladost.
Amelie Perkins is expected to arrive in Zagreb next week to sign a contract with ŽAVK Mladost, as playing in the country whose citizenship is required is also one of the requirements.
Donna Vekic is in the finals for HSBC. Hopefully she can win it and build from there.
Tuchel just released Alex Scott, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha and Josh King
U know the 4 players that we’re in camp in case of injury
Compare/contrast to the Croatians on standby
Segecic has been posting pool pics of him and his mates wasted all week
Franjo was fucking around travelling/parting 10 days ago too
At least Stojko and DDB weren’t stupid enough to post them f-ing around, but I’m sure they have been drunk too
Anonymous would BAN these morons from the NT forever
How hard is to stay in shape and kick a ball for a couple of weeks (it’s not brain surgery) – it’s not that hard just to do – if you REALLY want to play for ur NT – bc u love ur country – u would stand ready – just like Senesi for Argentina
Imagine during the war – if the Croatian soldiers who were on standby for Operation Storm – went to the pool to drink for a week and fuck around and get waste – instead of waiting for instructions and reclaiming Croatia’s land – is that HOW you enter battle ? LMAO
There is levels to this football game – and it’s unfortunate that Croatians on standby are the biggest losers and cucks out there
For those hoping Thierry Henry’s 1/2 Bosnian kids might represent Croatia one day – no luck – his wife is Andrea Rajačić and her father is Nebojša (and her mother is a Russian) – so maybe Serbia (or Russia) can snatch them up – but 1000% not Croatia – sorry for the bad news
Cristian Roldan
Another anchor-baby
LMAO
Roldan represented the United States at under-20 level. He was also eligible to represent either Guatemala or El Salvador through his parents,[31] and mentioned in an interview that he had been offered senior callups from both nations.[32] On July 12, 2017, he was cap-tied to the United States national team by starting their 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage match against Martinique.[33]
Ricardo Pepi
Mexican anchor-baby
USA National Team
LMAO
Cross the border illegally and you too can represent the USA national team LMAO
Alejandro “Alex” Zendejas Saavedra (born February 7, 1998) is a professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Liga MX side Club América. Born in Mexico, he represents the United States national team.
Zendejas was born in Ciudad Juárez in Mexico before moving to the United States at a young age.
The MLS, U.S. Soccer, and FC Dallas websites all listed him as being born in El Paso, Texas, but FC Dallas later confirmed that Zendejas had been born in Mexico.[2]
Guys
Try not get arrested in Dallas – please – otherwise you might have the pleasure of spending the night in jail – where Bubba will make u his bitch
The Toronto Police Service has officially identified the two men as Eldar Grabovac (27) and Emir Colic (25). Both are German citizens supporting the Bosnian national team.
🔸 The Charges: Assaulting a peace officer.
Anyone following Saranic on IG the last 10 days ?
Wild journey
Drinking, Beaching, Partying, Sunning, Restauranting, Clubbing, Diving head first off tall cliffs into shallow waters…. followed by bespoke specialized training in some fancy gym ahead of joining ISTRA
Anonymous’ appreciates he’s putting in the hard work now – although Anonymous did giggle of the videos of Saranic “running” on the treadmill at the speed of a 90 y/o great grand-mother – at least I guess he won’t get injured that way lol
Anonymous’ 100% agrees
Where are all the MORONS who think Luka Vuskovic should start against England LMAO
Lončarević je dao poseban pogled na Luku Vuškovića:
– On treba doći u Englesku i vidjeti gdje je, njemačka je ipak slabija liga. Ne može se karijera stopera ocjenjivati prema učinku u napadu i golovima. Gledao sam ga u mlađim uzrastima i imao je problema u zadnjoj fazi obrane, s duelima, prepoznavanjem i visokim loptama i nemoguće je da uđemo protiv Engleza s tako mladim stoperom. Njemu će dobro doći SP, nešto će igrati, ali nije ni slučajno igrač o kojem treba ovisiti reprezentacija. Ne možeš biti stoper ako od deset tvojih intervencija devet nije čisto, ili nije dobar skok ili kasniš u duel… Mora to riješiti, a riješit će ako ga Tottenham povuče u Premiership i uhvati se u koštac.
Imagine lining up for battle and you got “hey look at that guy, he doesn’t look like a Turk to me”. You better focus on your own skills man. Otherwise that big blond/african Turk is gonna cut you in half
You think modric is bitchin about Balogun eligibility? You scared of balogun? Who cares man
What I mean is there is a time to debate ideology, etginicity, eligibility, religion and so on. This isn’t it. It’s started, trading has closed. These are the teams. The squads are the squads. A Bosnian is a Bosnian a Canadian is a Canadian. The lines are drawn. Battle commences
It just comes across as mental midget syndrome. Getting excuses in early. Scrap that. I’m ready
Y’all bitchin. If Croatia wins the World Cup you’re gonna say it was the best tournament ever.
Can Croatia start inviting a bunch of Brazilians, Argentinians, French, Spain, English to the coast for the summer all expenses paid – but only if they are pregnant and risk of giving birth in Croatia ? We might get a footballer out of it
Born by accident in NY and spent only 2 months until cleared to fly home to London – but able to represent USA LMAO
#####
Balogun was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Nigerian parents.[7] His parents were living in London, but visited New York when his mother was seven months pregnant. However, on their intended return flight, airline staff refused his mother permission to fly due to safety concerns over her being too heavily pregnant at that time, and he was therefore born in New York.[8] He returned to the United Kingdom with his parents when he was two months old,[9] growing up in London, England.[10][11]
#####
Who cares?
Like a bunch of whiny English men
Guys. Please can we respect the tournament. Don’t be jackasses everyday of your life. Take a month off. Be positive
What is this? Nineteen Eighty-Four?
If the tournament is watered down (and with advertising water breaks), we is gonna criticize it, mate!
Criticism will flow for this entire first round…until we get to the knockouts where you may catch a couple of good teams.
What I’ve seen so far has been good
Paraguay +2 for the bettors
Easy money
Only caught the 2nd half
Shows the danger of bunkering and inviting pressure
Not sure why Bosnia didn’t try to move forward to release pressure
Esmir only touched the ball once and had run but created nothing from it
Kerim also quiet coming on
Maybe the stage is too big for them
The most interesting thing was the ref looked Iike Pandur’s doppelgänger
The rest was really boring – nobody had an ounce of technical skill – and everyone especially the Canadians just flopping around and pretending to be hurt every 5 seconds
Every game has sucked so far
Watched 15 min of South Korea Czech and it was the same
It’s like watching fussball – just whacking the ball from one end to the other – terrible to watch
Guess that’s always the case at these tournaments and now worse bc more teams
We are truly blessed all these years to watch not only winning football but beautiful football – like that Mario Pasalic goal – such a beautiful sequence and passing amongst several players until we score
Guess Brazil Morocco should be better tomorrow
I can’t stand Morocco.
They’ll be flopping and harassing the ref all game.
0-0 in 22 that sent a chill up Croatias spine brother
Did anyone go and wave Canadian flags in the faces of the Bosnians fans like they waved Turkish flags when we lost to Turkey at Euro2008?
Canada was a pretty big favourite to win the game and it finished 1-1.
Ante and company have lots of respect for BiH fans. Per an X post.
lol
Bosnia team is anyways majority Croats so that’s who we’re rooting for when we root for Bosnia
Who cares about the small % of wingnut Bosniaks mostly in eastern Mostar waving Turkish flags 18 years ago – if anything we should feel pity for their Stockholm syndrome
After Bosnia scored they started to defend the rest of the match. I’m wondering why they didn’t keep the pressure up after scoring? Also, that water break after they scored slowed down the game. Dzeko would have been good against Canada. They need someone who can finish.
Bosnia was poor in this game but were able to get a point.Bosnia struggled to complete 2 passes together. Bosnia defended really well especially Katic.
Wooow Katic knows how to take an intentional foul at the end of a game, wish we had someone with knowledge last Euros lol
Bos 1 Cangola 1
Lukiccccccccccccccc !!!
A Serb scored lol.
Anonymous LOVES the Serbs !!!
Niko Sigur can’t even start
Davies, Bombito; Promise David etc all injured
What a CUCK
Looks like Esmir starting today (based on leaked line-ups)
Hope to see Kerim start too
Decko and Kerim on bench
Vuskovic to Brighton LMAO
Tttenham must know he’s going to Barca or Real Madrid after the WC (despite Dalic saying Vuskovic won’t start any of the matches) so pretending they are making the decision as obviously embarrassing he doesn’t see them as good enough for him
Dalic – watched an interesting talk-sport video with the English pundits – beyond the arrogance of saying they are waiting to face Spain or France
1) Pickford is shaky on crosses and can be dominated in his box. He doesn’t like commotion. Also loose with the ball and is a mistake (ball give away) waiting to happen (Croatia has had luck vs. England keeper gaffes see Paul Robinson (Maksimir) and Scott Carson (Wembley) – lucky #3?)
2) Anthony Gordon is a RED card waiting to happen – terrible temper – must be bc he looks like a mug – please send the “Brad Marchand Rat” equivalent (no clue who that actually is) and try to bait him
3) Reese James RB – is no longer a threat going forward – he’s just a sit-back and defend RB these days – compare/contrast to Nico O’Reilley on the LB – who is the complete opposite and basically an inverted winger/midfielder the whole game – hopefully Olic and his Croatia wines – can help u figure out how to exploit this
Would love to have Marco on the RW if their LB can’t help himself from going forward.
I’m good with most of these. But FIFA pretending to care about players with a hydration/cooling break is insulting. It’s nothing more than a straight money grab for 6 minutes of commercials.
Having said that, it does help me not miss action if I’m drinking beer during the game.
I hate it.
The game is barely started, and they pause it.
Yeah it’s very frustrating as it feels like another step towards the Americanization of the sport with more commercialism.
Anyone have experience playing at altitude? For knockout routes, I feel like Mexico City will make it tough for our older midfielders, if we have to play there. Thinner air is good for short sprints, but not long-distance.
I’m a fan of most the new rules with the exception of player conduct ones. The refs are not always right. The covering the mouth one can be very subjective so I’m not a fan of that either. VAR in theory was a great thing to come into the game but the way it has been used has been abysmal. The refereeing should be fair and impartial allowing the better team to win, unfortunately that’s rarely the case. Hopefully the Vatreni kick some ass and Kova rides the pine where he can listen to some Serb tunes on his airpods.
Czech are pretty crap too. Korea much better.
We should have pumped Czech twice in qualifying.
That was the most pathetic opening game. South Africa doesn’t belong in this World Cup. It’s such a joke there are so many govno teams that scrape by to make it. Haiti, Curaçao, Uzbekistan, and the list just continues. What happened to Nigeria, Chile, Poland etc?
Bosnia will beat Canada tomorrow. Canada is struggling to formulate a team without Davies and others. Everyone is underestimating Bosnia. Bosna taking this one 2-0.
It was pathetic to see Milan Borjan on the panel. The Chetnik couldn’t save shit and now they give him a job.
It’s a shame to not see any Croats in the Aussie squad. You have Popovic as the coach and was a former player but that’s it. Austria, Switzerland New Zealand having less Balkan players too.
Milan Borjan is on a panel?
For what?
have to agree safrica sack of gouvna .
I’ve been waiting every 4 years for over 50 years only to have the 2026 World Cup go up in smoke because my Bell Fibe Modem decided today to blow up.
For you gents outside of Canada, it’s the CCN, Canadian Commie Network.
You know back in 70-80’s Rabbit Ears was the best, when you had bad reception the whole family chipped in to create a human chain to increase clarity, lmao.
Honestly i think Mexico are gonna be pretty hard to beat at home. As long as their games are in Mex i wouldnt wanna play them.
I watched the first half. Mexico didn’t look that good at all.
South Africa is a pretty bad team composed almost entirely of South African league players. They struggled to string together more than two passes, and it wasn’t due to some amazing defending by Mexico.
Mexico didn’t create too many chances and when they did, they botched a few of them at a pretty amateur level.
I would love to top our group and get the chance to play them in the R16 instead of Spain.
South Africa has no team . Mexico will get out of the group and go home if they had to face Spain. . If we’re going to play Mexico we need to play with heart . Something that the Mexicans play with . They fight for their dress . They are also fast and maybe better conditioned than we are. That’s what did us in at Brazil . We could have beat Mexico. We did not play attacking football and we were not conditioned and it showed .
I believe that when the group stage is over they will not have home field advantage for round of 16 or quarterfinals
The 5-second countdown, mouth-covering, and expanded VAR system are going to be used to help certain teams at the expense of others. “It’s coming home!”