What Are the New Rules at the 2026 World Cup?

A goalkeeper who controls the ball with their hands for longer than 8 seconds now concedes a corner kick to the opposing team. This replaces the old 6-second rule, which gave an indirect free kick and was almost never enforced.

The referee gives the goalkeeper a visible warning. With 5 seconds left, the referee raises an arm and counts down on their fingers from five to zero. If the ball is not released by zero, the corner is awarded.

The countdown serves two purposes. It warns the goalkeeper, and it tells teammates to move into space so the keeper can release the ball in time.

IFAB approved the change for the 2025/26 season after trials in Premier League 2 and league football in Malta and Italy. It first appeared at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and applies worldwide from elite to amateur level.

The referee starts counting from the moment the goalkeeper has clear control with the hands. A keeper who quickly rolls the ball out and picks it up again does not reset the count for tactical delay. For more on how officials manage a match, see the football referee guide. The change sits alongside the broader World Cup 2026 format.

Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) tracks player limbs and ball contact, then alerts officials when a player is clearly offside. The 2026 system sends an instant audio alert to the officials the moment a clear offside is detected, instead of waiting for a video review.

FIFA scans every player to build a 3D avatar for offside calculations. All 1,248 players across the 48 squads are digitally captured so the system can map exact limb positions.

The precision threshold tightened for 2026. The earlier generation flagged players who were more than 50 cm offside; the 2026 version surfaces calls down to around 10 cm, catching tight situations the old net let through.

SAOT assists the officials, it does not replace them. The referee and assistants still make the final decision, using the avatar graphic and the audio prompt as evidence.

The goal is speed and consistency. A call that once took a long video check can now resolve in seconds, with the same geometry applied to every match. The 2026 World Cup is the first major tournament to run the upgraded version, and the full technology stack behind it is broken down in the technology behind the 2026 World Cup. JudgeMate does not provide offside or VAR tooling; for what the platform's football live scoreboard does cover, see its dedicated guide.

IFAB added 5-second countdowns to restarts that referees previously left untimed. The aim is more effective ball-in-play time, which had fallen well below an hour in many matches.

Throw-ins: if a team does not put the ball back in play within 5 seconds of being ready to throw, possession switches and the opponent takes the throw-in instead.

Goal kicks: if the kick is not taken within 5 seconds, the opposing team is awarded a corner kick, the same sanction used for the goalkeeper rule.

Substitutions: a player being replaced has 10 seconds to leave the pitch once the fourth official raises the board. Slow exits to run down the clock are penalised.

These limits share a logic with the goalkeeper rule. The referee shows a visible countdown so the players know the deadline, and the sanction is a restart in the opponent's favour rather than a card.

FIFA pushed the same direction at the 2022 World Cup by adding long stoppage-time totals. The 2026 measures attack the delay at its source instead of compensating for it afterwards.

VAR still reviews only four match-changing categories: goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards, and mistaken identity. The reviewable detail inside those categories grew for 2026.

With clear evidence, VAR can now intervene on a red card from an incorrect second yellow, on clearer mistaken-identity cases, and on a corner kick awarded in error that leads to a goal. The four headline triggers are unchanged.

FIFA also pushed transparency efforts, including in-stadium and broadcast explanations of decisions, building on trials that announced VAR outcomes to the crowd.

Some competitions apply a referee-respect protocol where only the team captain may approach the referee to discuss a decision. The exact application varies by competition rather than being a single global Law.

VAR is run by FIFA's match officials, not by any scoring app. JudgeMate has no VAR tooling: its football product is a free live scoreboard for clock, goals, and cards in a single match. For the discipline side of officiating, read the football referee guide.

Two problems drove the 2025/26 changes: time-wasting and decision accuracy. Effective playing time had dropped, and tight offside calls were taking too long to resolve.

The goalkeeper and restart limits target delay directly. A corner kick is a sharper deterrent than an indirect free kick, so referees are more willing to apply it, which is why the old 6-second rule was scrapped.

The offside and VAR upgrades target accuracy and speed. Faster automated alerts and tighter thresholds aim for consistent calls across all 104 matches of the tournament.

The table below summarises the old rule against the new rule for each area.

Area	Old rule	New rule (2025/26)
Goalkeeper holding the ball	6 seconds, indirect free kick (rarely enforced)	8 seconds, corner kick, 5-second visual countdown
Offside detection	SAOT alert above ~50 cm, relayed via VAR	3D avatars, ~10 cm threshold, instant audio alert
Throw-ins	No fixed time limit	5 seconds or possession switches to the opponent
Goal kicks	No fixed time limit	5 seconds or a corner kick is awarded
Substitution exit	No fixed time limit	10 seconds to leave once the board is raised
VAR reviewable detail	Four categories only	Adds second-yellow reds, clearer mistaken identity, wrong corners

Here is a short stretch of a group-stage match showing the new rules in action.

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62:10 — Goalkeeper delay

The Team A keeper catches a cross and holds the ball, looking for a long pass. At 62:15 the referee raises an arm and counts down: five, four, three, two, one. The ball is still in the keeper's hands at zero.

Decision: corner kick to Team B (8-second rule).

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62:48 — Tight offside

Team B swings the corner short and a striker turns it in. The SAOT system maps the 3D avatars and detects the striker roughly 8 cm beyond the second-to-last defender. An audio alert reaches the officials within seconds.

Decision: offside, goal disallowed. Under the old 50 cm net this call would not have been flagged automatically.

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64:30 — Slow throw-in

Team A, now ahead, takes its time on a throw-in near the corner flag. The referee starts a visible 5-second count. The thrower does not release in time.

Decision: throw-in handed to Team B.

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66:00 — VAR check

A Team A defender is shown a second yellow for a late challenge. The on-field call stands as a red card, and VAR confirms there was no mistaken identity. Team A finishes with 10 players.

Three of the four moments here did not exist as automatic sanctions before 2026. Each one keeps the ball in play or sharpens the decision, which is exactly what the changes were written to do.