FIFA World Cup 2026 opinion poll + discusion about new format & rules

[Luzin]

Players have been using abusive language on opponents and covering their mouths with their hands to avoid being seen by officials and cameras. It's a good thing such a rule was introduced to reduce this unsporting behaviour. At least his name is now in the history books as the first player to get sent off for the offence.

I think this is a new rule to prevent offensive and racist remarks towards opponents. The rule is pretty good, but it seems like some unique moments will be lost. The Uruguayan coach spoke like that after the match ended. FIFA and IFAB agreed to implement this new rule, which actually started from club matches when Benfica faced Real Madrid in the Champions League. It seems players need to be smart. With technology and new rules constantly evolving, they need to adapt to keep playing. Of course, if this happens, the team would be at a disadvantage. Even though Paraguay won, they lost one key player.

[Dex_master25]

Players have been using abusive language on opponents and covering their mouths with their hands to avoid being seen by officials and cameras. It's a good thing such a rule was introduced to reduce this unsporting behaviour. At least his name is now in the history books as the first player to get sent off for the offence.

I think this is a new rule to prevent offensive and racist remarks towards opponents. The rule is pretty good, but it seems like some unique moments will be lost. The Uruguayan coach spoke like that after the match ended. FIFA and IFAB agreed to implement this new rule, which actually started from club matches when Benfica faced Real Madrid in the Champions League. It seems players need to be smart. With technology and new rules constantly evolving, they need to adapt to keep playing. Of course, if this happens, the team would be at a disadvantage. Even though Paraguay won, they lost one key player.

The rules of football is evolving with every competition that is hosted on a regular basis and it is same for this world cup mostly as we have more teams participating than the previous world cup and new technology on board. We only get to see and understand but the basic rules of play remains almost same for the 90 minutes in total.
I can't wait for the final winner because when it comes to countries co-hosting the world cup, there is always competition in tactics and technicalities and ego and that's how it is with a world televised competition as this one.

[len01]

I feel like this World Cup isn't as exciting or as intense as it used to be. You'd expect it to be more interesting with so many countries participating, but when I watch the matches, it feels like there's a lack of truly thrilling moments.

Some of the favorite teams, such as Brazil, Spain, and Portugal, seem to be playing as if they're not taking every match too seriously. Maybe it's just my impression, or perhaps it makes sense because those teams know they have a long journey ahead and are choosing not to play at full intensity in every game.

[NurseHub]

I feel like this World Cup isn't as exciting or as intense as it used to be. You'd expect it to be more interesting with so many countries participating, but when I watch the matches, it feels like there's a lack of truly thrilling moments.

Some of the favorite teams, such as Brazil, Spain, and Portugal, seem to be playing as if they're not taking every match too seriously. Maybe it's just my impression, or perhaps it makes sense because those teams know they have a long journey ahead and are choosing not to play at full intensity in every game.

‎What I can say is the rules of the game aren't longer challenging, which is the reason the game looks less exciting. Like they know draw still count, so they don't border in times of taking risk.
‎About the team performers, I expected more from big countries like Portugal and Spain for real, and I will say they are underperforming because they got some opportunities to display but didn't.

Another thing about this game is that those small countries are topping up unexpectedly. I am proud of their performance.
‎Still, I think the game is getting serious, maybe because those big teams are now seeing how the team they see less is topping the chat, and I think more serious games are coming.

[Hispo]

I am not actually a fan of this new format, specially the fact this whole tournament is taking place in three different countries at the same time, it makes logistics and visas a mess to deal with, in my opinion, specially when comes to the United States.
There are going to be a lot more people who will be able to travel and enjoy the tournament in Mexico when compared to the same people being able to move and support their teams in the United States.

I am hoping the the FIFA to realize their have committed and mistake, so they go back to the previous format of a single country being the host of the next world cup.

I do not necessarily hate the fact there are more tems who have managed to get into this tournament, if they can keep the number of slots high, that is okey, but keep it all into a single country...

[Bobrox]

Talking about new format of World Cup 2026 actually many fans agree because additional teams participants from 32 team become 48 teams most helpful in this edition many new debut team success qualifying to World Cup although my national team Indonesia still not lucky. I have bad opinion about the host appointing for the World Cup 2026 exactly with United State, many controversial appointing United State because their immigration regulation make many fans can't come there, high cost living and significant decreasing price of ticket, accommodation and many unpredictable expensive price expecting by fans.

I am hoping for FIFA must be fair and be selective appointing host for the World Cup not the country with a lot of controversial exactly United State, for next time appointing single host only will give chance many team qualify to World Cup because this moment have three host from United State, Mexico and Canada.

[rdluffy]

...

While people are complaining that increasing the number of participants reduced the quality, the world is discovering some unknown teams. Without this new format, Cape Verde might not have made it to the competition. Curacao and Haiti might make my defense weak because of their poor performance. But seeing DR Congo and Cape Verde display against Portugal and Spain made the competition unpredictable.

The water break is like a disruption to the game. It interrupts the flow and could even reduce players' morale. I know it was introduced for players' welfare, but it shouldn't be compulsory in all games. The weather conditions should be considered before stopping the game for this break. Critics believe that FIFA introduced this rule because of the revenue that will be generated from advertising during the break.

Exactly
The all-powerful Spain couldn't win the game against Cape Verde, and according to several people, Cape Verde didn't deserve to be in the World Cup 
Several countries that gained more spots through UEFA have proven not to be as strong as expected so far, and many people are dissatisfied because they wanted even more spots for the European teams

I'm still watching the games, enjoying what I'm seeing

Regarding the hydration breaks, perhaps it would be best to ask the players if the hydration is actually helping during the game or not

But I'm enjoying seeing taboos being broken with the theoretically weaker teams surprising everyone, including me hahaha

[Filicius]

...

While people are complaining that increasing the number of participants reduced the quality, the world is discovering some unknown teams. Without this new format, Cape Verde might not have made it to the competition. Curacao and Haiti might make my defense weak because of their poor performance. But seeing DR Congo and Cape Verde display against Portugal and Spain made the competition unpredictable.

The water break is like a disruption to the game. It interrupts the flow and could even reduce players' morale. I know it was introduced for players' welfare, but it shouldn't be compulsory in all games. The weather conditions should be considered before stopping the game for this break. Critics believe that FIFA introduced this rule because of the revenue that will be generated from advertising during the break.

Exactly
The all-powerful Spain couldn't win the game against Cape Verde, and according to several people, Cape Verde didn't deserve to be in the World Cup 
Several countries that gained more spots through UEFA have proven not to be as strong as expected so far, and many people are dissatisfied because they wanted even more spots for the European teams

I'm still watching the games, enjoying what I'm seeing

Regarding the hydration breaks, perhaps it would be best to ask the players if the hydration is actually helping during the game or not

But I'm enjoying seeing taboos being broken with the theoretically weaker teams surprising everyone, including me hahaha

I agree with you, to my sadness, because I want Spain to win the World Cup, that our performance has been not only worse than expected but quite bad after the result against Cape Verde, but let's not forget that chance plays a fundamental role in football, and that the World Cup has only just begun. As for Portugal, it has also disappointed many, but these examples are a reminder that even in games where the outcome would seem to be clear in advance, there are usually surprises.

And as for what you say about hydration breaks, as I mentioned earlier, its function seems to go far beyond ensuring the well-being of the players, as they are very convenient breaks for spectators unable to attend to attention for so many minutes at a time, in addition to the fact that in many countries those minutes are used to show commercials whose prices, rightly, are exorbitant.

[YOSHIE]

FIFA World Cup 2026 opinion poll + discusion about new format & rules 

Regarding the format, I support and agree with the new rule format for the 2026 World Cup tournament which was changed by FIFA, if that is the aim of team discipline.

However, for some of the changes to the new tournament format, I disagree and partly agree.
• New rule format 1 tournament I agree with.
Such as: 48 participating countries, knockout system and total matches, I agree to the new rules.

Annoying new rules and maybe I also don't agree, new rules on the field.
1. Timeout timeout is 5 seconds, for me it's too short.
2. The strangest thing is that the prohibition on covering your mouth and using your hands, with the penalty of a red card, is excessive.
3. Change players within 10 seconds.
4. Medical care in the field.
5. And the next thing is about determining standings. If it is determined based on head-to-head, this can be too intimidating for other teams.

For me in the 2026 world cup tournament, the new rules are a little strange, especially the rules on the field, maybe I personally don't agree with these rules.

[dzonikg28]

FIFA World Cup 2026 opinion poll + discusion about new format & rules 

Regarding the format, I support and agree with the new rule format for the 2026 World Cup tournament which was changed by FIFA, if that is the aim of team discipline.

However, for some of the changes to the new tournament format, I disagree and partly agree.
• New rule format 1 tournament I agree with.
Such as: 48 participating countries, knockout system and total matches, I agree to the new rules.

Annoying new rules and maybe I also don't agree, new rules on the field.
1. Timeout timeout is 5 seconds, for me it's too short.
2. The strangest thing is that the prohibition on covering your mouth and using your hands, with the penalty of a red card, is excessive.
3. Change players within 10 seconds.
4. Medical care in the field.
5. And the next thing is about determining standings. If it is determined based on head-to-head, this can be too intimidating for other teams.

For me in the 2026 world cup tournament, the new rules are a little strange, especially the rules on the field, maybe I personally don't agree with these rules.

Good write-up Yoshie.

1. It was about time that action is being taken about this. Whether 5 seconds is too short can be debated, but I don't think it isn't because it is not really 5 seconds. You can see that on average I would guess it is about 12 - 15 seconds. Goalkeeper catches a ball, falls down, stands up, looks around, now the referee starts the countdown. This whole time wasting in football destroyed the matches for the viewers and the players.

2. I don't see why this is bad. In the match Turkey vs. Paraguay, I think it is 99% safe to say that the Paraguay player insulted the Turkish player. And if not, why would there be a reason to hide your mouth? But it doesn't really matter because after this red card against Paraguay, I don't think we will see players cover their mouth again. 

3. Again so annoying for so long, players taking up to 45 seconds to leave the field. This is unacceptable and can't be compared with any other professional sport in the world.

4. I don't know the rule is here, is it that they have to provide medical care in the field? But they continue once the player got off the field. I don't understand what the rule is I think.

5. Do you mean that it would be better to go by goals immediately and you see opportunities for manipulation or too much tactics for the result in other matches?

[YUriy1991]

The rule regarding participating countries which was previously limited to 32 teams has now been reduced to 48 in my opinion making the World Cup lose its sacredness. With so many countries involved the World Cup has become a less competitive competition than it once was. Imagine if a low quality country qualified for the 2026 World Cup and when facing a team with the world best players, would be utterly thrashed, with attackers easily scoring hat tricks against weaker nations.

Back in the days of Ronaldo Nazario and Miroslav Klose, they had to work incredibly hard to score goals, making their 15 goal record so significant. Now a strong nation with star players can easily surpass 15 goals if they are lucky enough to face a team from a weaker nation. I believe the current 48 nation system needs to be re evaluated, as it makes the World Cup too accessible to nations unprepared for the competition. Ultimately, they would be utterly thrashed by the stronger nations.

[nikola22]

among the new rules I'd like to point out the fight against time-wasting. previously teams tried to waste time in every possible way but now the five-second rule prevents them from doing this. as a result, matches became a bit more dynamic. however, for those who like to bet on yellow cards this rule is not very convenient as previously quite a lot of players were cautioned for delay of game. regarding hydration breaks, they are necessary in hot climate but if matches are to be played in comfortable weather conditions then they should be eliminated.