The 2026 World Cup may be off to a good start in the US, Mexico and Canada, but that hasn’t stopped FIFA from wanting to change the rules during the tournament.
Confederation of African Football President Patrice Motsepe and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (Image: (Alex Slitz/Getty Images))
World Cup leaders plan to introduce legal reforms regarding penalty shootouts in time for the final tournament. In an incredible and unprecedented move, the governing body wants to change the rules mid-tournament.
Under current rules, there are two coin tosses, the first to decide the end and the second to decide which team will bat first, but FIFA referee Pierluigi Colina wants to have only one coin toss for this tournament.
The winner then chooses which end to shoot at, and the other captain decides who will attack first. FIFA believes this will balance the situation for this World Cup shootout.
FIFA officials discussed the changes with soccer’s law-making body, the International FA Board (IFAB). Normally, such legal changes would require IFAB approval, but the process will need to be fast-tracked in preparation for Saturday’s video call and the finals, which begin on Sunday.
The changes to the shootout are a pilot rather than a formal law change and are therefore not binding on competitions such as the FA Cup and League Cup next season, although the EFL and FA may choose to adopt the changes if they apply to IFAB.
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France won the 2022 World Cup final in a toss-and-kick, but Argentina won the shootout in front of the majority of fans. Arsenal lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the recent Champions League final penalty shootout, losing both toss.
In 2023, former Arsenal chairman David Dein has revealed plans for a penalty shootout at both ends. Dein, a former FIFA and UEFA competition committee member, believed it was “unfair” for players to take spot kicks in front of opposition supporters.
“The more I watched the shootout, the more I felt it was unfair for teams to have to take kicks in front of opposing fans,” he wrote in his book Calling the Shots: How to Win in Football and Life, written by David Dane.
He further added: “I’m not asking for a better or better referee. There’s a referee, a fourth official and two assistants, and in major finals there’s an assistant referee.
David Dane and Arsene Wenger before the EURO 2024 group stage match between Denmark and England (Image: (Visionhaus/Getty Images))
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“It’s not rocket science to have two umpires at each end and one in the center circle. There are always 32 cameras at a major final, so the coverage will be the same.”
“My plan is so simple that I can’t understand why it hasn’t come true before. I often hear the word ‘tradition’ and ‘this is the way it’s always been done.’
“Well, 100 years ago buses were pulled by horses. That was ‘tradition’. This is progress.”
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