Tuesday, June 16, 2026 - Virgil van Dijk has called on FIFA to rethink the use of hydration breaks at the World Cup following the Netherlands' 2-2 draw with Japan.
The Dutch opened their tournament with a hard-fought point
against one of the competition's dark horses but were left frustrated by Daichi
Kamada's late equalizer. However, it was not just the two dropped points that
bothered the Liverpool captain, who had opened the scoring with a trademark
first-half header.
FIFA's mandatory breaks have effectively split matches into
four quarters, even though weather conditions for some games have been
relatively mild. In Houston, where the Netherlands played Japan under a closed
roof, conditions were nearly ideal for football, with temperatures around 20
degrees Celsius.
"Hydration breaks are a bit interesting because I was
obviously watching almost all the games, up until today and every time going to
a commercial is a bit… not really what I like," Van Dijk said when asked
about the divisive rule change.
"I think also think for the neutral watchers on TV it's
also not great. So if it's really hot it would be good to put them in, but you
have to look at it in every game separately in my opinion. I think I've said
enough already on that," he added with a rueful smile.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea star Juan Mata had
earlier expressed concern about a development that is likely to disrupt the
natural rhythm of matches. He told ITV: "When you are playing the game you
just want to keep playing. If you are losing you want to try to score, if you
are winning you want to try to keep the ball.
"Those breaks I think they break the momentum. As a
player I don't think it's fair." Fellow ITV pundit Ian Wright argued that
the motivation behind the hydration breaks has little to do with player welfare
and is simply another way to generate commercial revenue.
"I just feel like it's another way to get adverts in,
there's no way Fox haven't had a say. You know with FIFA and Fox they've got
some hand in what they want to do," he said. "They've used the fact
that it's for the hydration of the players, not for me."
The early evidence suggests the breaks, which come midway
through each half, have clearly benefited teams that were on the back foot and
have given coaches opportunities to correct tactical issues.
USA women's head coach Emma Hayes noted: "One of the
beautiful things about football is there's only been one break. It's not like
NBA or NFL. It's a coaches game this World Cup, there will be analysts sending
down three or four clips with tactical adaptations
"You see Ancelotti make it in the first half by moving
Paqueta inside which made a difference because they'd lost a grip of the game
in the first 25 minutes. You've seen it with every manager so far that coaching
comes into play and it's so advantageous for the team that is losing momentum.
If you are on top you don't want it."
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