Van Dijk has expressed reservation over the introduction of hydration breaks at the ongoing World Cup, Yankee Scores reports.
Addressing reporters following his team’s 2-2 stalemate with Japan on Sunday – the fixture taking place at the air-conditioned AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – the Netherlands captain was enquired about his take on breaks amid conditions which aren’t excessively hot.
Hydration Breaks Concerns
Virgil van Dijk says he’s not a fan of the mandatory hydration breaks introduced at the World Cup 🤔 pic.twitter.com/P5JcUEPcye
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 15, 2026
“Hydration breaks are a bit interesting, because I was obviously watching almost all the games up until today, and every time going to commercial is a bit … Not really that I like it.
“I think for the neutral watchers on TV it’s also not great. If it’s really hot, obviously it would be good to put them in. But I think you have to look at it in every game, separately, in my opinion.
“But I think I’ve said enough already for that.”
Three-minute intervals for players during halves have been instituted by FIFA at the tournament after instances of unusually hot weather were reported during last year’s redesigned Club World Cup.
However, the new measure has received criticism by some, who believe that apart from being a player-welfare issue, it is also commercially motivated.
Broadcasters have been airing advertisements during those breaks following FIFA’s approval of this action back in March.
Hydration Breaks Influenced Germany vs Curacao?
According to ESPN, the impact of the breaks on the flow of the match was discussed by many during the Sunday games, as Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said that the interval allowed his side to regroup after equalizing in the first half of the match against Curaçao (7-1).
“Curacao played with a diamond today, and we adjusted how we attacked before the hydration break,” Nagelsmann said.
“But even so, there were still two or three moments where it took a little while because, at the end of the day, you actually very rarely play against a diamond-shaped team these days. It’s practically unheard of.
“Very few teams do that anymore, and we needed a bit of time. The water break was actually good to simply reiterate what we had already adjusted on the board.”
