Danny Makkelie: New Cup rules cut interruptions by 10%

Referee Danny Makkelie observed that the new World Cup regulations have already altered the pace of play after the first round, with interruptions falling from an average of 101.2 per match in 2022 to 91.5 this tournament – a ten percent reduction, centre‑backs exceeded five seconds before taking a goal kick after the referee’s signal, allowing Portugal to be awarded a corner. The incident illustrates how the timing rule is being enforced.

Five delayed throw‑ins were penalised: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Sead Kolasinac, Scotland’s Scott Hickey, Tunisia’s Hamdi Valery, Argentina’s Lautaro Medina and Austria’s Christoph Posch each lost the throw‑in after exceeding the allowed time. These cases show the new rule’s immediate impact.

The rule that a player must leave the field for a minute after a injury, leaving his side a man down, appears to be working. Players are opting to stay on rather than prolonging the stoppage.

In the first 24 matches, the VAR intervened fourteen times – 0.6 per game – with referees accepting the review decision thirteen times. One notable exception was a denied penalty for France because the referee judged Kylian Mbappé had sought contact.

By comparison, the 2022 World Cup saw VAR intervene in 26 of 64 matches, an average of 0.4 per game, with referees agreeing with the review twenty‑four times and dissenting twice. The current tournament therefore records a higher intervention rate.

Four of the fourteen VAR checks involved corners that were incorrectly awarded and subsequently turned into goal kicks for the opposition. In the United States versus Paraguay match, Danny Makkelie’s decision to give Tim Ream a yellow card was overturned after VAR review.

Other incidents highlighted the new rules’ growing pains: Lionel Messi escaped a red card against Algeria, and a Swiss player appeared offside before a penalty against Qatar, but a technical fault prevented the VAR footage from being displayed correctly.