Overview
- FIFA introduced mandatory three-minute hydration breaks in December 2025 as a player-welfare measure and the pauses remain compulsory across World Cup matches.
- Marcelo Bielsa publicly condemned the breaks on Sunday, calling them a 'change of culture' that 'adds nothing' and saying they effectively split matches into four periods instead of two.
- Broadcasters have taken different approaches to the windows, with some live feeds kept by networks such as BBC and Telemundo while others, including Fox, sold short ad slots and have been accused of overrunning permitted return times.
- Coaches and players have used the scheduled stoppages tactically, incidents such as Mauricio Pochettino using a laptop during a break have highlighted unclear limits on in-break activity, and match data show a pattern of goals and momentum shifts shortly after restarts.
- On the field Uruguay prepare to face Cape Verde with their group tightly poised and Darwin Núñez under scrutiny after a subdued first match performance and speculation that he could be dropped.