Why the first international break of 2026-27 season has been moved

The first international break of the season has been moved, leading to a major change in the fixture schedule.In recent years, FIFA has used five primary international breaks during a season, in March, June, September, October and November.However, instead of separate breaks in September and October, there will now be a three-week gap for international fixtures across late September and early October, when countries will play four international matches instead of two.A number of reasons are behind the change, including the World Cup final being played on 19 July, the latest date for a summer World Cup since 1966.Furthermore, player welfare and travel considerations were taken into account when the changes were made. The existing international breaks in November, March and June will remain.With the new changes, it now means the likes of Bradley Barcola, Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Iliman Ndiaye are all in contention to feature for their respective new clubs as early as this weekend.In fact, there will be three more rounds of Premier League fixtures before the change comes into effect.Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, meanwhile, will play their opening league phase fixture in this season’s Champions League a week earlier than usual.Bradley Barcola will not have to wait too long for his Liverpool debutGettyReal Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, though, has raised concerns about the impact of September's three-week international break.Read More"The international break does concern me," Mourinho said. "It's a lot of time.""Players who will join their national teams to play don't worry me as much. It's the ones who join the national teams and are not really involved that concern me."We'll see how we can go about this and work with the rest of the players. But not having players at my disposal for three weeks is a difficult situation."