Thomas Tuchel is worried.
The new coach of the England men’s national team is concerned that his players will be burned out by the time they arrive in North America next summer for the 2026 World Cup.
“I am not so concerned about the number of games the players play in total,” said Tuchel. “I am more concerned that they never have a real break of three to four weeks.”
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The German is not the first to raise the issue. Last year, FIFPro, the international players’ union, made its feelings known about the demands placed on athletes within the men’s game, echoing concerns expressed by a range of players, including Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodri about the lack of breaks from the physical demands of competitive matches.
It is worse for some than others.
Take Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson. He has been out injured since February but is expected to be available again soon. It is extremely unlikely he will play every game possible and also that Chelsea and his national team, Senegal, will go the distance in every competition they are in, but if they did he could theoretically be involved in more than 100 matches between now and the end of the 2026 World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi could find himself in a similar position. His most recent significant break from action came last summer — around a month between a couple of World Cup qualifying matches for Morocco and the start of pre-season with his club. He is unlikely to get another lengthy breather from top-level action for over a year, with club and international commitments filling his diary well into the 2026-27 campaign if Morocco qualify for the 2026 World Cup. He could also surpass 100 games in the 480 days between now and the World Cup final.
Hakimi in action for PSG earlier this month (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
FIFPro’s workload monitoring tool, which keeps track of 1,500 footballers spread across the globe, illustrated how 54 per cent of players experienced “excessive or high workload demands” during the 2023-24 season.
It highlighted Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, who was involved in 83 matchday squads for club and country across the campaign.
The union is calling for action to prevent player burnout. But there will be no let-up for the foreseeable future, as the game prepares for a 16-month slog, which includes an Africa Cup of Nations, an expanded Club World Cup, huge matches in domestic and European competitions and the biggest World Cup ever.
The next 16 months will be dizzying for fans and exhausting for players. Below is an outline of what that schedule will look like (this article focuses on the men’s game only; all dates based on GMT).
March to May
Domestic league and cup games, UEFA club competitions, international friendlies/World Cup qualifiers/Nations League, CONCACAF Champions Cup
Key dates:
- March 17-25: International window
- May 6-7: U.S. Open Cup third round
- May 17: FA Cup final
- May 17: Bundesliga and Ligue 1 seasons end
- May 20-21: U.S. Open Cup round of 16
- May 21: Europa League final
- May 25: Premier League, La Liga and Serie A seasons end
- May 31: Champions League final
Steve Bruce, the former Manchester United manager and veteran Premier League and English Football League manager, speaks often about the season hitting a new level of intensity “when the daffodils come out”.
The end of the current international break — this has included World Cup qualifiers and the latter stages of the Nations League — and the arrival of spring bring a non-stop sprint to the finish in the domestic league season.
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Premier League clubs have nine more league games to play and at least two clubs can look forward to three more games in the FA Cup.
The Premier League season ends on May 25, as does La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy, while France’s Ligue 1 and the German Bundesliga end a week earlier. In the U.S., the MLS regular season, which began in February, continues through until October. Select MLS teams also enter the U.S. Open Cup — the American equivalent to the FA Cup — the first week of May.
European competitions also finish in May, culminating in the Champions League final in Munich on May 31.
The Concacaf Champions Cup — North America, Central America and the Caribbean’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League — began in February and reaches the quarter-finals stage in early April, with the semi-finals to follow later the same month and into early May.
June
Post-season tours, international friendlies or qualifiers, Concacaf Champions Cup, Concacaf Gold Cup, Club World Cup
Key dates:
- June 1: Concacaf Champions Cup final
- June 2-10: International window
- June 14: Concacaf Gold Cup starts
- June 15: Club World Cup starts
It was once a familiar sight to see players leaving the final games of the league season in shorts and flip-flops and boarding flights a few hours later to the beaches of Europe and beyond.
Not this year. The Champions League final and the Concacaf Champions Cup final are on the same weekend, and are followed immediately by a nine-day international window. Most European nations will play two games in either World Cup qualifying or the Nations League.
For many players, there will be just a five-day break before the start of the expanded Club World Cup, featuring 32 teams from around the globe.
The winners and runners-up will play seven games in a month — three group matches and four more in the knockout stage — culminating in the final in New Jersey on July 13.
At the same time, the Concacaf Gold Cup will be taking place in the United States and Canada, running from June 14 to July 6.
Those players not involved in internationals or the Club World Cup are not guaranteed a break, either, with clubs increasingly cashing in commercially with overseas post-season tours.
Manchester United have two games in Malaysia and Hong Kong, while Liverpool are flying halfway around the world for a trip to Australia.
Manchester United players during a pre-season penalty shootout in California in 2024 (David Hickey/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
July
Pre-season tours, Club World Cup, Concacaf Gold Cup, Leagues Cup
Key dates:
- July 6: Concacaf Gold Cup final
- July 8-9: U.S. Open Cup quarter-finals
- July 13: Club World Cup final
- July 29: Leagues Cup starts
For European clubs, the first week in July is the traditional start of pre-season training.
Many clubs excuse their international players from the first phase of this to provide a manufactured break but, with the new Premier League season starting in mid-August, the scope for giving players a rest is limited.
And increasingly clubs are clocking up air miles for pre-season games in Asia, the United States or Australia.
Speaking of the U.S., the Leagues Cup — the tournament between Liga MX and MLS teams — gets underway in July.
August to November
Pre-season tours, domestic leagues begin, domestic cup games, UEFA club competitions, international qualifiers/friendlies, MLS Cup playoffs
Key dates:
- August 16: 2025-26 Premier League season starts
- August 31: Leagues Cup final
- September 1-9: International window
- September 16-17: U.S. Open Cup semi-finals
- October 1: U.S. Open Cup final
- October 6-14: International window
- October 19: MLS regular season ends
- November 10-18: International window
The first games of the 2025-26 Premier League season will kick off on the weekend of August 16, with La Liga due to begin a few days later and the other major European leagues likely to start around the same time.
For international players, there will be no breaks and many air miles until the end of the season.
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There are windows for up to six international games in September, October and November before a relentless sequence of games through to Christmas.
October marks the start of the MLS Cup play-offs. Last season’s winners, LA Galaxy, played five matches en route to being crowned champions, though that figure can be as high as seven, depending on seeding and results. MLS will release the play-off schedule at a later date.
December and beyond
Domestic league and cup games, UEFA club competitions, MLS Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, international qualifiers/friendlies, post-season tours, international friendlies, World Cup
Key dates:
- December 21: Africa Cup of Nations starts
- January 18: Africa Cup of Nations final
- March 23-31: International window
- May 20: Europa League final
- May 24: Premier League season ends (other European leagues TBC)
- May 30: Champions League final
- June 1-9: International window
- June 11: World Cup starts
- July 19: World Cup final
Speaking of air miles, some of Africa’s top players will be missing from club duty for up to a month across December and January so they can play in the continent’s premier international tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations.
The teams that reach the final of the tournament in Morocco will play seven games in four weeks (as will the losing semi-finalists, due to the competition’s third-place play-off).
Ivory Coast beat Nigeria in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, which was played in 2024 (MB Media/Getty Images)
Then, from mid-January, the club season will take centre stage again, punctuated by one more two-game international break in March, a two-game slot for pre-World Cup friendlies in mid-June before the tournament itself begins on June 11.
And by the time the final is played in New Jersey on July 19, another club pre-season will already be in full swing.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
