The Premier League will be having its first-ever 16-day international break this season, as FIFA combined the customary September and October windows into a single longer period from September 21 to October 6.
The league will play until Matchweek 5 on September 20 before taking a break for Matchweek 6, which will resume on October 10.
During the extended hiatus, European countries will play UEFA League matches, while African teams will compete in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, with each country playing two matches.
CONCACAF countries will compete in a mix of Nations League group-stage games and friendlies, while the United States and Mexico, who have already qualified for the quarterfinals, will play friendlies.
Once Asian Cup qualifying wraps up, Asian teams will use friendlies to get ready for the Asian Cup in January 2027, and a number of South American nations are also set to arrange friendly matches.
According to a September report that our correspondent pulled from the EPL website on Wednesday, the Premier League season previously featured four nine-day international breaks—in September, October, November, and March—during which each country played two matches per window.
However, this season, the “September and October breaks have been merged into one 16-day period, during which countries will play four matches rather than the standard two.”
“With many players in Europe representing countries in Africa and South America, the idea behind the new calendar is to reduce the number of separate periods in which players fly across continents.
“It will also reduce disruption by cutting the number of breaks between the start of the season and the end of the year from three to two,” the Premier League said.
In 2023, the FIFA Council gave unanimous approval to the changes, with player welfare playing a part in the decision.
For Premier League clubs, these breaks can feel notably longer, since players come back from national-team duty before they play again the following weekend.
“The breaks tend to feel more like two weeks – or three weeks in the case of the new longer window – as players return to clubs and do not play until the following weekend,” the league said.
Running from November 9 to 17, the November international break falls between Matchweeks 10 and 11, while the Premier League season’s final break will occur from March 22 to 30, between Matchweeks 30 and 31.
In November, European nations will play two more matches in the Nations League, while AFCON qualification continues with two additional fixtures.
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The United States and Mexico will join the other qualified teams in the CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals, while South American and Asian countries will take part in friendlies.
During the March break, EURO 2028 qualifying will get underway for certain countries, along with UEFA Nations League knockout fixtures, such as the League A quarter-finals and the League A, B, and C playoffs.
AFCON qualifying will carry on, and the CONCACAF Nations League final will take place as well. Countries from Asia and South America will take part in friendlies during this window.
According to the Premier League, the international-break system was introduced in 2002 and was first used for qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
In what became formally known as the “FIFA International Match Calendar,” FIFA introduced fixed periods in the season when clubs were required to make players available for their national teams due to the increasing number of fixtures.
The Premier League also noted that major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and continental competitions can take place within FIFA windows, even when they fall during the Premier League off-season.
“When the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) fell between December and January last season, clubs had to release players in a specific window for the tournament, though the Premier League did not take a break,” it said.
Conversations had taken place regarding cutting down the number of international breaks even more, yet the existing system will stay as it is until at least 2030. ↻
“Premier League matches are also not held on a Monday night ahead of an international break or on a Friday night after the break,” the statement added.
