The FIFA council have agreed to extend several of the international breaks in 2021 and 2022 by an extra day, helping to accommodate the many schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended breaks will end on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday, and teams may play up to three matches each rather than the typical two. The extensions apply only to UEFA and CONCACAF.

For UEFA, the international breaks in MAR 2021 and SEP 2021 have been extended. The matches that were to have been played in JUN 2021 will be moved into the extended breaks to make way for the Men’s European Championship. As a result, the group phase is still scheduled to complete in 2021. The international breaks in OCT 2020 and SUN 01 NOV-TUE 01 DEC 2020 were similarly extended to allow for the rescheduled playoffs for Euro 2020 alongside the UEFA Men’s Nations League.

For CONCACAF, the international breaks in SEP 2021, OCT 2021, JAN-FEB 2022, and MAR 2022 have been extended. This accommodates the rescheduling of the first and second rounds into MAR-JUN 2021. The final round is now scheduled to begin in SEP 2021 and end in MAR 2022.

For all other confederations, all international breaks will end on Tuesday as usual, and teams will play no more than two matches per break.

• MON 22-WED 31 MAR 2021: UEFA group phase
• MON 30 AUG-WED 08 SEP 2021: UEFA group phase, CONCACAF final round
• MON 04-WED 13 OCT 2021: CONCACAF final round
• MON 24 JAN-WED 02 FEB 2022: CONCACAF final round
• MON 21-WED 30 MAR 2022: CONCACAF final round