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As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, analysts and coaches are examining the tactical frameworks that will likely determine which nations lift the trophy in North America.
The gap between elite club football and the international game remains a widely discussed topic among coaches and analysts. Andy Roxburgh, former Scotland manager and current technical director of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the two formats are difficult to compare.
He noted that national team coaches work within significant constraints, such as no transfer market, limited training time, and fewer matches. These factors push them toward pragmatic approaches.
"In international football, there's no transfer market. You select and you use what's available to you," Roxburgh told AFP from Kuala Lumpur.
The influence of dominant club sides on national teams has long been evident. Spain's back-to-back European Championship victories in 2008 and 2012, and the 2010 World Cup title in between, were built substantially on the foundation of that era's Barcelona side.
Roxburgh, who managed Scotland at the 1990 World Cup, said the most significant shift in modern football has been the pace of the game and the intensity of defensive pressure on the ball.
"What has changed is the speed of the game. The pressure on the ball is far more intense," he said. "So collective play at the international level today is more sophisticated than it used to be. In the past, it depended a lot on individual stars—today the stars play for the team."
The high press, a strategy in which teams aggressively win back possession in the opposition's half, has become a defining feature of top-level football.
France coach Didier Deschamps pointed to the transition from defense to attack as a critical moment after the 2022 World Cup final, when Argentina converted a rapid counterattack for its decisive second goal against France.
However, Roxburgh raised concerns about whether high-pressure styles can be sustained under the conditions expected at this tournament.
"I know we're going to have water breaks, but that might not be enough to allow teams to press and play high-intensity," he said, adding that conditions in parts of the United States and Mexico may pose particular challenges.
FIFA has announced three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half. Former Brazil midfielder and 2002 World Cup winner Gilberto Silva, now part of FIFA's technical study group, said those stoppages could prove strategically significant.
"Now they have two more opportunities, beyond half-time, to make changes. That is a big advantage for them," Silva said.
England coach Thomas Tuchel also highlighted the growing importance of set-pieces and long throws heading into the tournament, a trend reflected in the current Premier League season.
"These things will matter... All these patterns are back and crosses are back, as well," Tuchel said earlier this season.
Set-pieces represent one area where coaches can exert direct influence on outcomes, and the additional stoppages for hydration breaks may further extend that influence.
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