From VAR changes to covering mouths: Every new rule at World Cup 2026

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Evening Standard

·9 Juni 2026

From VAR changes to covering mouths: Every new rule at World Cup 2026

FIFA have confirmed new regulations ahead of this summer’s tournament

Not just because it has expanded to 48 teams, but also because there are a number of rule changes coming into force at the tournament.

Video OneFootball

Those regulations have been confirmed by FIFA, and many of them concern the way that Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The tournament is set to get underway this week, with the first game kicking off on Thursday when Mexico take on South Africa at the Estadio Banorte.

VAR

There are three key decisions that VAR currently preside over: goals, penalties and straight red cards.

Now, there will be new scenarios that video assistants can review.

The first is an incorrectly awarded corner, and a check will be made but only if it doesn’t slow down the game’s restart.

An example would be if a corner is awarded but replays indicate that the final touch came off the attacking player.

The next is fouls that happen before play is started, such as if an attacking player was to bring down his marker before a set piece is taken.

VAR can also review incorrectly given red cards that stem from second yellows, and they can also intervene when a card has been brandished to the wrong player, such as at Stamford Bridge back in 2014 when Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs was wrongfully dismissed after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deliberate goalline handball.

New rules: VAR will oversee more incidents this summer

Players can’t cover their mouths

Away from the VAR booth, there will be strict punishment for players covering their mouths when they communicate on the field.

It is often seen when team-mates and opponents converse, but that will not be allowed to happen at this World Cup, after Gianluca Prestianni’s alleged racial abuse of Vinicius Junior in the Champions League earlier this season.

The only exception is that if a conversation happens with covered mouths that is deemed to be a friendly interaction, then no action will be taken. Any sense of aggression could see a player shown a red card.

There will be a five-second countdown for every restart at this summer’s tournament, encompassing goal kicks, free kicks and throw-ins.

Referees will raise their arms to start the count, and if the ball is not back in play at zero, the ball will be turned over. From a goal kick, that would give the attacking team a corner.

As for substitutions, there is a maximum 10 seconds for a player to exit the pitch and for his replacement to enter the fray.

That enforces substituted players leaving the field by the nearest point of exit.

If that doesn’t happen, then a player will be forced to wait 60 seconds before being able to come on.

Countdown: Referees will limit restart times this summer

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There is continuity with injured players who have treatment on the pitch will be forced to wait a minute before re-entering the field, although there are exceptions for goalkeepers or those that suffer serious injuries or head collisions, with concussion protocols in place.

Goalkeepers will also be penalised for going down for tactical reasons, with that a hot topic over the recent campaign.

No1s are often instructed by managers to feign injuries so coaches can communicate instructions to their outfielders, but that will be cracked down on at the World Cup.

Outfield players will be told to stay where they are on the pitch, although there are no punishments for players that do move.

Players who storm off the pitch in protest will also be shown a straight red, and the same will happen to team-mates who encourage it. Should an entire team leave the field of play, the game will be abandoned and the guilty party will forfeit the match.