This summer's World Cup features a host of new initiatives designed to improve the spectator experience and match officiating, but the mandatory pausing of play in each half for a hydration break seems like having the greatest effect on the game itself.
FIFA announced in December that all 104 World Cup matches will pause for three-minute "hydration breaks" midway through each half amid expectations of high temperatures during the expanded 48-team tournament held across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Recent World Cups and major competitions have also included drinks breaks, but they have been either been enacted at the discretion of the match referee or when a certain temperature threshold has been met.
The decision to expand drinks breaks to every match at the World Cup, which FIFA say was made after consultation with coaches and broadcasters, has been presented as necessary for player welfare, but some have argued there are underlying financial motives behind their introduction.
Why are there hydration breaks at the World Cup?
One of the biggest takeaways from last summer's revamped Club World Cup in the United States was the extreme heat in which many matches were played.
Coaches and players were highly critical of the conditions, with Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernández saying he felt "really dizzy" while playing in temperatures he described as "very dangerous."
Three of Chelsea's games during the tournament -- which was held across near-identical dates in June and July last year as this summer's World Cup -- were played with local weather warnings urging people to avoid undertaking strenuous physical activity outdoors.
Then-Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said he had to cut training sessions short amid a "code red" heat warning in Philadelphia last June, Spain's Marcos Llorente said he felt "terribly hot" and added, "My toes were sore, my nails were hurting -- it's incredible," after playing in Atletico Madrid's 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Pasadena, California.
Chelsea won the Club World Cup with a 3-0 victory over PSG in the final at MetLife Stadium.
In their statement announcing the mandatory introduction of hydration breaks at the World Cup, FIFA said the measure "is part of a focused attempt to ensure the best possible conditions for players, drawing upon the experiences of previous tournaments, including the recent FIFA Club World Cup."
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Why have the mandated hydration breaks been criticised?
FIFA's December announcement was notable in mandating a hydration break in each half during all World Cup matches -- including those played under closed roofs and in colder climates such as Seattle.
While the need to prioritise the health of players in high temperatures is not contested, some argue that football matches are being divided from a contest split across two halves into a four-quarter format more readily associated with American sports.
These misgivings were followed three months later by the confirmation that FIFA had given commercial broadcasters the green light to show adverts during the hydration breaks at the World Cup.
The development left many onlookers concluding that as well as player welfare concerns, there were commercial motivations behind FIFA's decision to unilaterally impose drinks breaks at their showpiece event.
FIFA has argued that its decision to apply drinks breaks across all 104 matches regardless of the local temperature at the time of each match was designed to ensure uniformity and consistency across the tournament.
Broadcaster DAZN utilised split-screen adverts during drinks breaks at last summer's Club World Cup. Several international broadcasters, including U.S. broadcaster Fox have cut away from the action to air adverts.
Advertising is ubiquitous for spectators at elite football matches across stadium signage, player kits and pitchside displays, and television audiences are subject to regular advertising breaks before, during halftime and after games, but a full cut-away from a live football match to show an advert is a new development for several countries.
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What have players, coaches and pundits said about the hydration breaks?
Opinions on the regular drinks breaks have varied in the opening weeks of the tournament.
Virgil van Dijk has criticised their introduction after the Netherlands' 2-2 draw with Japan was broken down into four quarters at the air-conditioned AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on June 14.
The 34-year-old laughed, before saying: "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."
The effect of the breaks on the flow of the game also came under scrutiny following Germany's 7-1 win over Curucao when Julian Nagelsmann indicated the first three-minute stoppage came at an opportune moment for his team sort themselves out tactically after conceding a first-half equaliser.
"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."
Nagelsmann's comments came after Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged afterward his team's draw with Morocco that the first-half hydration break enabled him to deliver fresh instructions to his players. Vinicius Junior fired in Brazil's equaliser six minutes after the resumption of play.
When asked about the benefits of the breaks, Ancelotti said: "You can explain a problem to the players and make a tactical adjustment that can be very good."
France boss Didier Deschamps said he is a fan of them ahead of his team's opener against Senegal.
"These hydration breaks for three minutes, you can get the players close to you and this gives you an opportunity to adjust a couple of things as regards the 22-23 mins of game that just took place," he told a news conference.
"With the high temperatures, it's important to be able to give this extra opportunity, two opportunities to the head coach. It's a good thing -- this is a fact, but it leads us to split the game and if you're in a strong position, following this break you have to start playing again. But we adapt to this, even in our prep work we've anticipated this.
"It's not two half times its four quarter times, this is what we've got, what's been decided, so the players and the coaches adapt to this new reality, but you get to speak an extra two times."
United States women's head coach Emma Hayes, who is working as a pundit for UK broadcaster ITV during the tournament said the timing of the hydration breaks can be both a positive and a negative, depending on the flow of the match at the time they are taken.
"It's advantageous for the team losing momentum -- that's why I call them momentum breaks," she said.
"When you're on top, you don't want it; when you're losing, you do.
"Sometimes it's not even coaching [during the hydration break]. It's about taking on fluid and calming players. Sometimes it can be doing nothing, but that can be considered coaching as well.
"It's a shame. I can understand it in really warm parts of the country, but it seems like it could be something that could here for good."
What do the hydration breaks look like?
The referee's whistle stops the game 22 minutes into each half to allow players to rehydrate. After three minutes, a second whistle from the referee ends the drinks break and play resumes.
The 2026 World Cup's chief tournament officer, Manolo Zubiri,a has said that if there is an injury or other ongoing stoppage "at the moment of the 20th or 21st minute" then the referee is able to take the opportunity to call for a slightly early drinks break.
Coaches take the opportunity to give their players further tactical instructions during the three-minute breaks, with USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino first raising eyebrows during a pre-tournament friendly against Senegal when he gathered his players around a laptop in the dugout.
For viewers watching from home, commercial broadcasters have been given the option to go to a split-screen, or a full cut-away where they can show any advert as normal.
Broadcasters have been advised that the adverts should not start within 20 seconds of the referee blowing for the start of the hydration break, and they must return to the action more than 30 seconds before play resumes.
Information from PA and ESPN's Ed Dove contributed to this story