The Premier League will have its first-ever 16-day international break this season after FIFA merged the traditional September and October windows into a single extended period from September 21 to October 6.
The league will play through Matchweek 5 on September 20 before pausing, with Matchweek 6 resuming on October 10.
During the extended break, European countries will play UEFA Nations League fixtures, while African nations will contest Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, with each country playing two matches. CONCACAF teams will feature in a mixture of Nations League group-stage games and friendlies, while the United States and Mexico, already qualified for the quarter-finals, will play friendlies.
Asian nations will play friendlies in preparation for the Asian Cup in January 2027, following the conclusion of Asian Cup qualifying, while several South American countries are also scheduled to play friendlies.
As retrieved on Wednesday by our correspondent from the EPL website from a September report, previously, there were four nine-day international breaks during the Premier League campaign—in September, October, November and March—with each country playing two matches per window.
However, this season, the “September and October breaks have been merged into one 16-day period, during which countries will play four matches rather than the standard two.”
“With many players in Europe representing countries in Africa and South America, the idea behind the new calendar is to reduce the number of separate periods in which players fly across continents.
