2026 World Cup hydration breaks turn into ad breaks as criticism mounts
Korea national team head coach Hong Myung-bo gives instructions to players during a hydration break during their Group A opener against the Czech Republic at Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico at the 2026 World Cup, Friday, June 12. Yonhap
FIFA’s newly introduced hydration break system for the 2026 World Cup is increasingly coming under fire, as criticism mounts that the breaks have essentially become cash-grab opportunities for broadcasters to air advertisements.
British daily The Guardian reported Monday that a broadcasting mishap occurred during the World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa, when U.S. broadcaster Fox cut to advertisements during a hydration break and failed to return to the game in time, resulting in viewers missing 10 seconds of play after the match resumed.
Hydration breaks were first used at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when temperatures during matches rose above 32 degrees Celsius. At this year’s World Cup, FIFA decided to introduce three-minute breaks in each half of every match, regardless of the temperature, as a measure to protect players.
But the breaks soon came under a critical gaze when broadcasters began using the breaks to air commercials. By simple math, three-minute breaks in each half amount to six minutes per match. Multiplied by 104, the total number of games, that adds up to more than 10 hours of airtime that will almost certainly be used to show advertisements.
Critics have therefore argued that the hydration breaks were introduced in the interests of broadcasters as commercial breaks, rather than in the interests of players.
John Kosner, a sports media consultant and former ESPN executive, criticized the move, saying it had essentially divided football into four quarters to create highly valuable advertising breaks.
Questions have also been raised over the decision to uniformly impose three-minute breaks at every match, given the varying temperatures across Canada, the United States and Mexico, where the tournament is being held. Temperatures around the stadiums currently range from about 10 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius, far from what could be described as scorching heat.
Complaints have also emerged that the breaks interrupt the flow of matches.
“No matter which team, if they’re on a roll, three minutes ruin everything,” France manager Didier Deschamps said. The Wall Street Journal raised a similar concern, arguing that the breaks are ill-suited to football compared with other major U.S. sports, such as American football and basketball, which feature timeouts and clear changes of possession. Football, by contrast, has traditionally been defined by “two unbroken 45-minute halves,” the outlet wrote.
Korea national team coach Hong Myung-bo also offered a mixed assessment of the hydration breaks after his side’s 4-0 loss to Ivory Coast in an international friendly.
“Our players tend to reach their peak in terms of agility and performance around 20 minutes into a match, so it is disappointing to see the flow interrupted,” Hong said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.