New-look international break has its merits but more club vs country rows loom

12:57, 27 Sep 2026Updated 12:57, 27 Sep 2026

The new-look international break is certain to cause even more club v country rows.

For a start, it is surely unthinkable that an England player will start all four games in the ten day window. After the opening game with Spain at Wembley, England travel to Prague to face the Czech Republic on Tuesday night. That is followed by Croatia in Rijeka next Saturday tea time and then they place the Czech Republic again in the return fixture at Wembley on Tuesday, October 6.

Bearing in mind there were five withdrawals before the squad even got together - Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Tino Livramento and Declan Rice - Premier League clubs are clearly anxious to protect their players from burnout.

Rice and Palmer were both described as “load management” with the Arsenal midfielder still suffering a hangover from the World Cup on the back of a marathon season when he played 69 games for club and country.

But while Rice’s absence is understandable, you would also expect other clubs to think it was unfair if some players get three weeks off while theirs are expected to play several games across the window.

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You have already seen Arsenal forward Kai Havertz suffer a suspected hamstring issue while away with Germany and Sunderland’s Holland striker Brian Bobbey went off with a similar issue in the same game.

That has already got fans complaining about the new-look international break and the impact it might have on their clubs.

It is a good idea in principle. It means that you get two international windows for the Nations League rather than the previous three which should reduce some of the disruption to the Premier League fixture list. This one is the long one whereas the international break in November is short, two games and you only lose one weekend because the Premier League starts again straight afterwards.

The players get proper time with their nations, they get a good get-together and the Nations League does throw up some heavyweight fixtures.

By the end of the International window, England will have played Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic twice. The opening round of Nations League fixtures pitted Holland against Germany and there are decent fixtures.

England captain Harry Kane talked about wanting to play in all four games and Thomas Tuchel has only ended up with 23 players so if you do the sums then it is unlikely you will get a complete 11 changes from game to game.

It means some players will get a lot of football and others not so much. That has always been the case but this window seems to have compounded it.

What is surprising is that more Premier League managers have not publicly criticised this new-look international window. On the back of a World Cup, it feels wrong that players are being asked to play four intense games in the space of ten days. You are certain to get injuries, withdrawals and issues. England really need this campaign to work because dropping out of the top tier in the Nations League affects seeding, qualifying and also the standard of games which stretches teams.

The Nations League is a brilliant invention. The best thing to happen to international football in a long time because you get competitive games rather than meaningless friendlies. It’s also another chance to win an international trophy.

There is no easy slot for the fixtures and whether this new-look window is a success will probably be judged on who gets injured. That is just football.

But England face two tricky away games, the second of why is played largely behind closed doors which is so unfair on England fans.

Croatia were banned from having fans in Rijeka by UEFA and yet there will be several thousand school kids (accompanied by some adults) and also around 100 lucky England fans with a very limited number of tickets recently on sale.

International football matters but pitching it in the right way in the calendar feels so important.

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