The international football calendar has changed significantly for the 2026/27 season.
Instead of pausing separately in September and October, the Premier League has experienced one extended international break covering both months. The change has created a much longer interruption early in the domestic campaign, but it also means clubs will stop fewer times before the end of the year.
The revised structure forms part of the men’s international match calendar approved by FIFA. It is intended to reduce repeated long-distance travel, limit the number of separate interruptions to club football and provide national teams with longer, more concentrated periods in which to play their fixtures.
When Are the International Breaks in 2026/27?
The Premier League pauses three times for international football during the 2026/27 domestic season:
21 September to 6 October 2026: Up to four international matches
9 to 17 November 2026: Up to two international matches
22 to 30 March 2027: Up to two international matches
The extended September and October window takes place between Premier League Matchweeks 5 and 6. The November break falls between Matchweeks 10 and 11, while the March break separates Matchweeks 30 and 31.
There is also a men’s international window from 7 to 15 June 2027, but this occurs after the end of the Premier League campaign and is therefore not considered an in-season Premier League break. Major international competitions, including the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup, are scheduled for the following summer period.
September and October Have Been Combined
The biggest difference in 2026/27 is the removal of the traditional standalone October break.
In previous seasons, club football usually stopped for approximately nine days in September. National teams played two matches before players returned to their clubs. A few weeks later, the same process was repeated during another nine-day window in October.
From 2026, those two periods have been merged into one 16-day window running from 21 September to 6 October. National teams can play up to four matches during the extended period…
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