Why there are no hydration breaks in Mexico-Colombia game at World Cup after weather delay
Why there are no hydration breaks in Mexico-Colombia game at World Cup after weather delay originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Hydration breaks have gotten a lot of attention at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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The breaks, mandatory for each game in the middle of each half, have almost made it seem like these matches are played in quarters and not halves.
That won’t be the case on Tuesday night when Mexico plays Ecuador.
FIFA announced there will be no hydration breaks at the Azteca.
The game was delayed an hour for weather before kickoff (lightning), and FIFA has made this call for the first time in the entire tournament.
UPDATE: Despite the announcement, they’re still taking a hydration break in the first half.
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Why are there no hydration breaks in Mexico-Ecuador?
FIFA seems to have equated the pregame delay to something that should axe the hydration breaks.
They didn’t spell it out in their announcement quite like that, but that’s the implication.
Yes, a bunch of time has been lost on this night, so that would make as much sense as anything.
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The one reasonable concern: This makes this particular match played in a different fashion than every other one in the tournament.
That’s why they wanted the breaks in every match to begin with, for consistency. This choice ruins the consistency.
Fans will wait to see how it impacts things.