Why there will be hardly any football games for three weeks in September and October

[p]Between September 20th and October 10th, many football fans will have to do without their favourite club. Club football will largely be put on hold during an extraordinary break.[/p][p]FIFA have introduced the so-called [b]'XL International Break'[/b], which will debut in 2026. Between [b]September 24th and October 6th, 2026[/b], European and African national teams will play [b]up to 4 matches[/b] [b]instead of the usual 2[/b]. FIFA have introduced this measure to reduce the number of international breaks from 3 to 2 per season.[/p][p]World champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a], for example, will play four [b]UEFA Nations League games[/b] against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a], the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Czech Republic[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a] (twice) over ten days. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] will play just two games, facing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/gabon/YJL8W78U/"]Gabon[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lesotho/fTM4XmgO/"]Lesotho[/a] in [b]AFCON qualifiers[/b] on September 23rd and 27th. [/p][p]International youth teams will also feature in the international break, with three rounds of U21 Euro qualifiers and one round of U17 Euro qualifiers scheduled.[/p][image alt="Spain will play four Euro 2028 qualifiers between September 26th and October 6th" id="ade18a8c-e1de-4697-99ca-23b3ca8c8c55" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c57b7995-5e99-44e2-9d87-fd71705ec543" original-width="1200" original-height="900" /][p]Teams from other continents will feature in several friendly matches. For example, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a] will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a] twice in four days before meeting [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/india/A1UUGpep/"]India[/a] in Kolkata. Meanwhile, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a] will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/peru/Uend67D3/"]Peru[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/fuitL4CF/"]USA[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chile/KUCG35cM/"]Chile[/a] in friendlies. [/p][p]Smaller CONCACAF teams will play in the first stage of the CONCACAF Nations League, while the eight teams from the Arabian Peninsula will feature in the Arabian Gulf Cup.[/p][p]The break largely affects European leagues, with competitions such as American Major League Soccer, Argentine Liga Profesional, Brazilian Serie A, and Mexican Liga MX continuing as scheduled.[/p][p]Exceptions exist, however, with the Japanese J-League and South African Premiership as examples of leagues that will also go on a three-week hiatus.[/p][image alt="Arsenal won't play a game between September 19th and October 10th" id="290c08b8-2a66-4ad7-b438-57c12e9dd60e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="634bf4c0-5de1-42df-9efa-c56753592149" original-width="1200" original-height="900" /][p]Examples of European leagues that will continue during the XL International Break are the following:[/p][p][b]Dutch Eerste Divisie[/b][/p][p][b]English League One and League Two[/b][/p][p][b]Finnish Veikkausliga[/b][/p][p][b]Irish First Division[/b][/p][p]Want to know which leagues and teams will play during the XL International Break? [a href="https://www.flashscore.com/"][b]Find out now on Flashscore[/b][/a].[/p]