Fans at the FIFA World Cup 2026 have noticed something unfamiliar: stoppage-time boards showing five or six minutes — a far cry from the ten, 11, or 12 minutes that became routine in recent tournaments. The change is deliberate, and it starts with one man's philosophy.

Collina's plan to speed up the game

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's referees' chief, made a conscious decision to reverse course after Qatar 2022, where matches lasted an average of over 100 minutes. At this tournament — excluding the three minutes allocated for hydration breaks — games are averaging 96 minutes and eight seconds.

"The objective is to eliminate, as much as possible, the disruption of the tempo of the match," Collina explained. His approach centres on one simple idea: stop players wasting time on routine moments, and there is no need to pile it all on at the end.

To enforce this, Collina introduced five-second countdowns on goal-kicks and throw-ins, a 10-second clock on substitutions, and a rule requiring any player who receives treatment to stay off the pitch for at least one minute.

Early signs of success

The early evidence suggests the measures are working as intended. So far, only one goal-kick has been converted into a corner — when DR Congo took too long during their 1-1 draw with Portugal. No substitute has yet been barred from entering the pitch due to a slow exit by the outgoing player.

The threat of playing with 10 men for a full minute appears to be a genuine deterrent. Players are leaving the field within the 10-second limit, injury stoppages appear less frequent, and referees have been firm in sending players off rather than waiting for medical staff.

Goalkeeper tactical time-outs have also been banned, and the overall flow of matches has improved noticeably.

What the numbers say

The most telling measure is the percentage of match time during which the ball is actually in play. In Russia 2018, that figure stood at 56.25 percent. Qatar 2022 improved it to 56.86 percent despite — or perhaps because of — all that added time. At this World Cup, it has reached 59.38 percent, the highest of any of the three tournaments.

In absolute terms, ball-in-play time has dipped slightly from 58 minutes eight seconds in Qatar to 57 minutes 22 seconds here. But because matches themselves are shorter, the relative share of live football is higher.

All three tournaments recorded four on-field VAR reviews on average during the opening round of games, meaning the improvement cannot be attributed to a change in technology use alone.

The road ahead

It is still early in the tournament and the full picture will only emerge over time. The more pressing question is whether these habits can be transplanted into domestic football — delivering 380 Premier League matches a season with the same discipline would be a far greater challenge than a month-long World Cup.