LONDON — The first international break of the 2026-27 season is almost over and it has been longer than fans are used to, with the Premier League and Championship pausing for three weeks rather than the usual two before players return to domestic action from Friday. The extended window was introduced by FIFA with player welfare in mind, but a growing injury list headlined by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has raised questions about whether it has worked.
FIFA previously used five primary international breaks of two weeks in March, June, September, October and November. The switch to four breaks with a three-week gap across late September and early October was made for several reasons, including the scheduling of the 2026 World Cup final on 19 July, the latest date for a summer World Cup since 1966. Player welfare and travel were also factors, with the reduction intended to cut the number of cross-continent journeys for African and South American players who play their domestic soccer in Europe.
The reality is that numerous players will return to their clubs with injuries. Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott withdrew from the England squad on Monday with a thigh injury and the Cherries are unhappy with the way they believe England handled the injury. Haaland asked to be substituted on 67 minutes and limped off in Norway's match against Portugal on Sunday before leaving camp on Monday, while club teammate Nico O'Reilly returned to City for further assessment. Liverpool duo Cody Gakpo withdrew from the Netherlands squad with an ankle injury and Alexander Isak pulled out of Sweden duty with a minor thigh injury, Portugal boss Jorge Jesus revealed Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes had been playing through pain, and Sunderland's Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey both sustained hamstring problems. England's Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice all pulled out of Thomas Tuchel's squad before the break, while Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe sustained an injury with France and Barcelona's Raphinha returned from Brazil with a thigh injury. Following Haaland's injury, Norwegian players' union chief Kristoffer Vatshaug said, "Over time, we have seen a worrying trend where the burden on top players has become far too high," adding, "We want clearer guidelines for workload and recovery. It is about the time between matches, consecutive rest periods, travel strain and how much time players get to recover after a long season."
England boss Thomas Tuchel has previously been critical of the three-week break, calling it "more challenging" than previous years and citing travel and only two days of rest between games. Speaking Monday before England take on the Czech Republic on Tuesday, he said, "I can assure everyone that player welfare is priority number one," but added, "But new training styles and training times, different positions to play maybe, increase the chance of injury." On whether the extended break has driven injuries, he said "we need to get the numbers right" before deciding, adding, "Is it really more or is it the same amount [of games] as in two shorter little windows? I don't have the answer to that," and "The two-week window is not guilty for everything. If it is a thing, we will adapt and make the most of it as always." He also noted positives, saying, "I didn't like the start of it after a long tournament to have a long window. There are also positives to it like we saw against Croatia after having three matches together," and "The team is together for longer, more training sessions, more meetings, more of the same language. You see improvements and automatisms clicking in. We made it a very good camp."
Fans have largely bemoaned the interruption just as the domestic season was gaining momentum, with many describing the long pause as boring without club soccer and questioning friendlies that risk key players. It is hard to quantify whether more injuries have occurred than in other breaks given the extra fixtures, and a full comparison may have to wait until the end of the season. With three days of fixtures still to be played, club managers will have their fingers crossed that no more names are added before the domestic schedule resumes.