The World Cup’s new rhythm has become one of the tournament’s early talking points, with mandatory stoppages changing how matches feel for players, coaches and viewers.
FIFA has introduced the breaks as a player-welfare measure during a summer tournament across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The criticism is not about players taking water in dangerous heat, but about what teams and broadcasters are doing once the whistle goes.
For Gary Neville and Roy Keane, the worry is that soccer is drifting toward a stop-start format that feels more like American sports than the game they grew up with.
Gary Neville says World Cup hydration breaks have become mini half-times
Speaking on The Overlap on Instagram, Neville said FIFA needs to act because teams are using hydration breaks for more than drinks.
“I think FIFA are going to have to act quite quickly now. I think if it’s a drinks break, there is going to have to be an element of: the coaches have got to stay on the bench, you can’t bring tactics boards out.
“I think there was one game they actually had a screen where they showed a set-piece! And then there was a tactics board up,” Neville said.
He added, “[It’s] effectively a mini-half-time, four quarters. I am surprised it’s not been stamped on pretty quickly, and I think it is a stealth advertising break.”
FIFA’s rule means every match has a three-minute stoppage roughly midway through each half. Neville’s issue is that coaches can turn those minutes into tactical resets, while broadcasters also gain a natural commercial window.
Roy Keane says World Cup hydration breaks damage soccer’s pace
Keane’s criticism focused less on tactics and more on the feel of the sport itself.
“They’ve covered it by saying it’s a hydration break. But even that, people will have different arguments about why they love different sports,” Keane stated.
“We love football because of the pace of the game. You don’t want to go to the toilet, you might miss something! Other sports you go, ‘listen we can go out, we might not miss much,” the Irishman added.
The point was about momentum. Keane’s view is that soccer’s tension comes from long, uninterrupted stretches where a chance can appear without warning, and scheduled pauses risk cutting through that flow.
The debate has grown because the breaks are mandatory, not only triggered by dangerous heat. That means even games in cooler conditions or controlled stadium settings can still be split into four blocks, making it feel to critics like the tournament is being shaped by television habits as much as player safety.
FIFA does not have to scrap the breaks to address the issue. Neville’s demand is simple, if it is for hydration, keep it as hydration, not a disguised timeout for teams and advertisers.
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