Every World Cup team got a serious warning after one country was clearly punished for breaking a new rule.
Every team playing in the 2026 World Cup this summer has already been given a serious warning about some tough new rules that will be in place during the tournament.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has confirmed several rule changes for the upcoming event, and these rules are already being used.
One big change is that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) now has more power. VAR can step in for wrongly given second yellow cards, mix-ups with player identity, and wrongly given corner kicks. But when checking corners, VAR will only correct clear mistakes and won’t hold up the game.
For second yellow cards, VAR can only cancel a wrong caution but won’t suggest a second booking if the referee didn’t originally give one.
There are also tougher rules to stop time-wasting during throw-ins and goal-kicks. If a throw-in takes longer than five seconds, the other team gets the ball. And if a goal-kick is delayed, the opponent gets a corner kick. Players who cover their mouths during heated moments will now get a red card too.
Another strict new rule is about substitutions. Players coming off the field have just 10 seconds to leave once the substitution board is shown, and they must exit from the nearest boundary line.
If they don’t leave in time, their replacement can only enter at the first stoppage, but only after one minute has passed since the game restarted.
Even though Iceland didn’t qualify for the 2026 World Cup, they already faced consequences for breaking one of these new rules.
They lost 1-0 to Japan on Sunday. Japan, preparing for their eighth straight World Cup, won thanks to a late goal from Koki Ogawa.
Iceland tried a double substitution in the 85th minute, swapping Hjortur Hermannsson in smoothly. But when they tried to replace Kristian Nokkvi Hlynsson with Isak Snaer Thorvaldsson, Hlynsson took too long to leave the field.
Because of that, the referee didn’t let Thorvaldsson come on right away, leaving Iceland one player short until the next stoppage.
Although the minimum penalty for this is 60 seconds, there’s no limit on how long players should take off the pitch.
Iceland ended up playing with 10 men for 1 minute and 51 seconds — and during that time, Ogawa scored the winning goal.
This was a harsh lesson on how costly it can be to break these new rules.