The 2026 World Cup has seen a couple of new rules introduced for the first time, neither of which have been especially positive for the game.
Firstly, every match must include a hydration break, no matter the temperature. This has promoted much backlash from fans, including the England faithful who boo every break during their side’s ties.
Meanwhile, the fact that group-stage positions are now decided by head-to-head record instead of goal difference has made a number of upcoming matches completely pointless.
Head-to-head record deciding World Cup groups has made many matches pointless
In previous years, if two teams were level on points, the team with the better goal difference would be placed higher.
This year, however, it does not matter if a team has a better goal difference as long as they come out on top in the head-to-head record.
What has now transpired as a result is that many of the upcoming matches over the next week may as well not be happening.
For example, in Group D, Turkey (-3 GD) are bottom with zero points and Paraguay (-2 GD) are third with three points.
At previous World Cups, that would have meant an exciting final round with Turkey having to beat the USMNT and then hope that Australia beat Paraguay to stand any chance of qualifying.
But because Turkey have already lost to Paraguay this summer, they could win their game by 10 goals and still not climb above them into third place.
Similarly, the USA are first in the group, and because they have already beaten Australia and Paraguay, they are guaranteed to finish first even if they lose their last game and their goal difference takes a big hit.
Elsewhere, Tunisia are already out of the tournament despite only being three points behind Sweden in Group F.
Tom Brady recently suggested 2026 could be the best World Cup yet, a claim that was mocked by many.
But there is simply no chance that this tournament can be viewed as one of the best of all time when half the games we are about to watch may as well just be friendlies, thanks to the change from goal difference to head-to-head records deciding where a team finishes.
Why did FIFA make the change? Well, there isn’t really a good explanation for it, but the result has been clear.
It may help some teams, like Paraguay, who know they can no longer finish below third in their group, no matter the result of the next game.
But from a neutral perspective, it does feel like you may as well not bother watching many of the upcoming games and instead tune back in once the Round of 32 kicks off.
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