Gary Neville singles out rule change at 2026 World Cup that he absolutely loves

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Gary Neville has hailed FIFA ’s decision to make substitutions time-limited at the 2026 World Cup . The tournament gets underway on Thursday evening in Mexico as the Central American side take on South Africa in the traditional curtain raiser.

Supporters will have to keep an eye out for a bunch of new rules brought into force ahead of the World Cup. One that will be a welcome addition for fans is the fact that substitutions are time-limited.

If a player does not get off the pitch quickly enough then their team will temporarily be down to ten men, a decision that Neville has given his emphatic approval to.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, he said: “I think this is an unbelievable introduction – time-limited substitutions. I love that.

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“It’s so annoying watching players walk off slowly. The players and teams are gaming the system.

“You can criticise FIFA for many things but I do think they get their referee stuff right. I think those are pretty good introductions and will make the game better for the fans.”

Another rule change that Neville has approved of is teams being made to hurry up when it comes to throw-ins. He added: “We’ve got some rule changes coming in for the World Cup. I’m massively up for the throw-in counter.

“The amount of time that is taken in the Premier League … I’ve lost count of how many times we mentioned that last season. So I like that one.

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“What we’ve witnessed over the past 12 months is teams stopping the game for a minute to prepare for set-pieces. I’m talking about League Two games as well as the Premier League, the ball is out of play for so long. I think it’s a good introduction.”

While Neville has given praise to FIFA for his changes, it appears that his punditry colleague Roy Keane is not on the same page. He has claimed that the heat might make the rules very difficult to enforce.

He said: “Some of the rules are about the speed of play but it’s strange they’ve brought them in now when we’re talking about the conditions being so tough for the players. If ever players will want to slow the game down it will be now given the heat in some of these venues.”

England were victims of a new rule during their pre-World Cup friendly against Costa Rica, with kick-off delayed by an hour due to lightning strikes in Orlando.