FIFA wants to change a World Cup rule just days before the knockout games start.
FIFA has surprised everyone with a new rule change right in the middle of the World Cup, just days before the knockout rounds begin. This year’s big 48-team tournament in North America has already introduced many new things to shake things up, like two hydration breaks and a rule that got Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron sent off for covering his mouth during a disagreement.
Now, another big change is coming before the round of 32 starts on Sunday. Martyn Ziegler from The Times says FIFA has asked the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to change the way penalty shootout coin tosses work.
Right now, there are two coin tosses: one decides who kicks first, and the other decides which goal to use. Both can give a big advantage to the team that wins. FIFA wants to switch to just one toss, where the winner picks either to kick first or choose the goal, and the other team gets the remaining choice.
This change comes after Arsenal lost both tosses in a Champions League shootout against Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to win after Gabriel Magalhaes missed his penalty in Budapest. The idea is that having only one toss will be fairer, so one team can’t get two big advantages.
For example, in the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, Lionel Messi won the first toss to pick the goal end, then Hugo Lloris won the second to decide who kicked first.
With more teams in this World Cup, there’s an extra knockout round. The USA, Mexico, Germany, and Argentina have already secured their spots early. Besides the top two teams in each group, the eight best third-place teams will also move on.
There’s a big change in how ties are decided this year. Before, if teams had the same points, goal difference was used as the tiebreaker. But for 2026, head-to-head results will come first. If that’s also a tie, then head-to-head goal difference and goals scored will be checked next.
It’s very rare that all these stats are equal. If that happens, fair play and FIFA World Rankings could be the final deciding factors.