FIFA change is set to affect all EFL Championship teams next season | OneFootball

FIFA are making changes to their international match calendar from the 2026/27 season, and it will have an impact on the EFL.

The first international break of the 2025/26 season is underway, and it has disrupted the early stages of an intriguing Championship campaign, but that is all set to change from next season.

We are just four games into the Championship season, but things have had to be halted as a result of the first international break of the campaign.

FIFA World Cup qualification in Africa, Europe, North America and South America is taking place, with teams in the Asian and Oceanian confederations engaged in international friendlies.

This is the first of three stoppages from the club schedule as a result of international football in the autumn, with breaks in mid-October and then in mid-November; but that is set to change from next season, and it will have an impact on all Championship clubs, as well as many in League One and League Two.

FIFA set to impact EFL clubs with calendar change

FIFA have confirmed that, from the start of the 2026/27 season, the three autumnal international breaks will become two, instead, with the September and October breaks merged.

It has been outlined that the first international break of the season will take place over an extended period of time, from September 21 to October 6 to incorporate four matches, rather than two.

That will mean that at least two more rounds of EFL fixtures can take place before the season has to then be paused for two weeks as a result of international call-ups.

The Championship automatically stops due to call-ups, whilst League One and League Two clubs have the option to request a postponement of their match if they have three or more first-team players missing due to international duty.

Unusually, especially in comparison to recent years, we have had a full slate of League Two fixtures in this window, whilst only four matches were called off in League One, too.

The November international break remains in place, though, as does the March and end of season June international breaks. Next season also sees the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in the early part of the year, which could cause disruption to plenty of EFL clubs.

First international break comes too early for the Championship

As is the feeling with regards to the Premier League and other major European leagues such as the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, there is a view that this first international break of the season comes way too soon.

After the build up of summer, and then finally getting things underway with those tentative early weeks, the season begins to find some rhythm in late August, only to be halted for a couple of weeks due to international football.

The merging of the September and October breaks means there will be a longer run up to the stoppage, perhaps lessening the frustration of having to stop three times through the autumn, allowing for added fluency and rhythm for Championship clubs in particular.

Middlesbrough, for example, have endured a couple of seasons of stagnation and slight underperformance and, after that frustrating time, 'Boro have now begun with four successive victories but, as the momentum builds, their progress is almost immediately and frustratingly stopped.

An added irritation for next year, though, will be that the extended stoppage will be to accommodate UEFA Nations League fixtures, rather than for the importance of FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship qualifiers, for example.

Either way, it will have a major impact on Championship clubs, but could also act as a positive with an extended training camp for those without too many international call-ups.