FIFA will stop players at the 2026 World Cup from going to the technical area to talk to coaches when goalkeepers are injured, a move aimed at cutting off a growing form of tactical timeout in matches. The new restriction will apply to all 48 teams, and officials will be responsible for enforcing it.
The change matters now because FIFA has already told coaches what is coming. Pierluigi Collina said the world body held a workshop with all the coaches of all the 48 teams and warned them that referees will be proactive. He said they will not allow both teams to head to the benches when a goalkeeper is on the ground injured, and that players do not have the right to leave the field to take a sort of timeout with their coaches.
The move follows concern that teams have been using apparent injury stoppages to reset a match and gather instructions. FIFA said it will apply the same logic as the National Women's Soccer League, which earlier this year introduced its own temporary measure when a goalkeeper is injured. Under the World Cup version, players will be kept away from the touchline area rather than being allowed to cluster around coaches while the stoppage is being handled.
That still leaves a flaw in the fix. The new measure will stop players from going to the benches, but it will not stop the tactic from being used simply to break up the momentum of the other team. There will be no yellow cards or other disciplinary action for players who try to go over and speak to the coach, so the control rests on referees and their reading of each stoppage in real time.
The issue has been simmering for years, and it came into sharp view in November when Leeds United boss Daniel Farke accused Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of feigning injury to bend the rules and disrupt play. FIFA has been looking at the problem without agreeing a law change, but it has opened the door to trials by leagues throughout the 2026-27 season in search of a longer-term solution.
There will also be a three-minute hydration break in each half at the World Cup, which gives officials another scheduled pause in games already likely to be stop-start. What remains unresolved is how consistently referees will draw the line when a goalkeeper goes down and teams see an opening to slow the match even without leaving the pitch.
