Getty Image / Kenta Harada / iStockphoto / Dziurek
The World Cup brings chaos ever four years. Teams must adjust to unfamiliar conditions and hostile crowds. It also often coincides with new rules which teams must quickly adjust to.
The rules come from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and are implemented as new FIFA rules for the World Cup and other competitions. They went into effect over the weekend as teams competing in the World Cup were competing in International Friendlies, aka ‘tune ups,’ ahead of the tournament. One of the new FIFA rules cost Iceland a goal against Japan in a match that ultimately ended 1-0.
New FIFA Rules Ahead Of World Cup Cause Chaos On Day 1
Below is the video of what happened along with an English translation from an X post via Vitor Sergio Rodrigues who shared the explanation in Portuguese. Essentially what happened is with the new FIFA / International Football Association Board (IFAB) rule, players have just 10 seconds to leave the field when they are being subbed off.
If they dillydally there is an immediate penalty. The player coming onto the pitch must wait *at least* 1 minute before coming on. In actuality, it will likely take much longer as play will need to stop before the sub comes on and that can take a long time.
In this instance, the Icelandic player took longer than 10 seconds to leave the pitch. That triggered the player coming on having to wait at least 1 minute. Play continued longer than that causing a 1-man advantage for Japan. This led to Japan scoring with a 1-man advantage… All on the very first instance of this new FIFA rule being applied ahead of the World Cup. Here is the video with the explanation below:
⚽‼️ Atención a esto que pasó en Japón-Islandia y será clave en el Mundial. Hlynsson tardó más de 10 segundos en salir del campo y el árbitro aplicó la regla de jugar 1 minuto con uno menos. ¿Qué pasó? En ese momento llegó el gol de Japón.pic.twitter.com/ExjSJcCJWz
— Carlos Arasaki (@carasaki10) May 31, 2026
The explanation:
X / @VitorSergio
This was just an international friendly but if this same scenario plays out in the World Cup it will cause a massive uproar. Japan was favored in this match, ranked 18th in the world according to FIFA rankings while Iceland is ranked 75th. But scoring with a 1-man advantage gifted from a new rule in a match that ended 1-0 is quite controversial.
There are more new rules!
In addition to the new rule of players having 10-seconds to leave the pitch when being subbed off, there are more!
(1) Players are no longer allowed to cover their mouths using their hands or shirts when arguing with someone on another team or an official. If they are caught doing this it is an automatic red card. They are, however, allowed to cover their mouths during friendly conversation with players on other teams. So there will be some room for interpretation here.
(2) If a player leaves the field in protest/anger they are handed an automatic red card. (3) There is now a 5-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks. The referee starts the 5-second countdown with a hand raised and if the player hasn’t thrown in the ball after 5 seconds the ball is given to the other team. On a goal kick, if it is not taken within the 5 seconds a corner kick is awarded to the other team.
(4) For medical treatment, if a player requires attention from the team’s medical staff they must leave the pitch for at least 1 minute. This however does not include goalkeepers. If a keeper is injured it will trigger a timeout for both teams. (5) There will be a 3-minute hydration break during each half due to the extreme Summer heat in North America. (6) Additional enhancements are being made to the Video Assisted Referee (VAR) system including being able to further intervene on fouls.
Introducing seismic rule changes like this just ahead of the FIFA World Cup is certainly a choice… There will undoubtedly be some chaotic situations in the days ahead!