“Asking for trouble” – Is the international break putting players at risk? – Opinion

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·4 October 2026

“Asking for trouble” – Is the international break putting players at risk? – Opinion

When FIFA combined the traditional September and October international breaks into one extended window, the theory presumably sounded sensible enough.

Fewer interruptions to domestic football, fewer separate journeys and one concentrated period for national teams.

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In practice, though, four competitive internationals in around 11 days is beginning to look like an enormous physical demand on players who had barely recovered from a summer World Cup before returning to their clubs.

Arsenal supporters certainly do not need reminding of the risks.

Declan Rice withdrew from England duty, Kai Havertz returned early from Germany with a muscle problem, Christos Tzolis has now been sent home after suffering an injury on international duty, while Martin Odegaard suffered the ankle knock that led to his furious confrontation with Bernardo Silva.

Not every injury can be blamed on the calendar. Footballers get injured.

But surely the question is whether the schedule is increasing the chances.

National team managers are now questioning the format

Netherlands boss Xavi Hernandez certainly thinks so.

Speaking about the extended window, Xavi told Reuters:

“This schedule is not good. Not for the national teams and not for the clubs that release their players and sometimes see them return injured.”

He went even further, describing such a packed calendar only three months after the World Cup as “asking for trouble.”

He is hardly alone.

Thomas Tuchel believes the constant changes between club and international training, playing styles and positions heighten injury risks, while Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has said he prefers the old format because it gave players more recovery time.

Germany coach Jurgen Klopp took perhaps the most revealing approach of all, selecting 44 players across two separate squads to deal with the workload.

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Clubs carry the consequences

That is where the arrangement feels particularly uncomfortable.

National teams understandably want to win every competitive fixture. Players naturally want to represent their countries. Club managers want their footballers returned fit.

Nobody involved is behaving unreasonably.

The problem is a calendar asking all three things to coexist while squeezing four matches, training sessions, recovery and international travel into one block.

Arsenal have already spent much of this break waiting anxiously for medical updates rather than simply watching their players represent their countries.

And this is not merely a one-season experiment. The same combined September-October window is currently scheduled to remain in place through 2030.

Perhaps fewer separate international breaks are desirable.

But if the price is cramming four competitive matches into such a short period, football may simply have exchanged one problem for another.

Do you prefer one longer international break to two separate interruptions, or is four matches in 11 days simply asking too much of modern players? Let us know in the comments below.

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