The impact of international breaks on football clubs’ performance

Let them not return injured. The thought echoing through the heads of many club managers and fans when players are off to their national teams. Throughout the year there are five international breaks, when clubs must release players for international duty when called upon.

Within a nine-day period nations generally play two matches. Which are rarely friendlies any more since the introduction of the Nations League in 2018. Players return on Wednesday or Thursday, sometimes having travelled hours and hours across multiple time zones, only for a league game to be scheduled on Saturday.

So, how exactly do international breaks impact players’ and clubs’ performance? Which clubs have been negatively affected by international matches recently? And can clubs benefit from international breaks?

Which clubs have the most players playing for major nations?

Tournaments are a reasonably good indicator for how many of a club’s players play (a significant number of minutes) for major national sides and could thus be affected by international breaks. In the Premier League, the traditional Top Six tends to have the most players playing for major nations.

From the 2024/25 Premier League teams, 104 players were selected for Euro 2024¹. Manchester City had the most players at the European Championships with 14. Followed by Arsenal (11) and Liverpool (10). Ipswich Town was the only Premier League club without representation in Germany.

Across Europe, nine clubs had 10 or more players representing them at Euro 2024.² Coming second to Manchester City was Inter (13). While 2023/24 Ligue 1 and La Liga champions PSG and Real Madrid released 12 players for the tournament. Arsenal and Liverpool were amongst the top 10 countries as well.

Clubs with most players at Euro 2024²

More Euro than Copa players in the Premier League

More players represented Premier League clubs at Euro 2024 (104) than at the Copa América 2024 (42).³ Aston Villa, Fulham and Liverpool each had four players at the Copa. The most amongst Premier League clubs. Fulham was also the only club with more players selected for the Copa than for the Euros. Four clubs had no representation at the Copa in the USA, including the three promoted sides.

Bolivian Club Bolívar had the most players (10, all for Bolivia) at the Copa. With no Bolivian player contracted by a Premier League club at the time.

Premier League players at the World Cup

Players from Premier League clubs accounted for 17 percent of the players at Euro 2024 and 10 percent at the Copa América 2024. During the 2022 World Cup, 132 Premier League players travelled to Qatar.⁴ Which was 16 percent of the total number of players (829) at the tournament. They played on average 225 minutes, with 12 players (including six goalkeepers) seeing no action at all.

Percentage of players from the Premier League^1,3,4

Unsurprisingly, the Top Six had many players representing them at the World Cup as well. Manchester City (16), Manchester United (13), Chelsea (12), and Tottenham Hotspur (11) all had more than 10 players who went to the 2022 World Cup. With Tottenham players playing on average the most minutes with 327. Followed by City (286 minutes). Arsenal and Liverpool had respectively nine (Ben White did not go despite being selected) and seven players in Qatar.

From the non-Top Six clubs active in the 2022/23 Premier League, Brighton & Hove Albion (eight) and Leicester City (seven) could match those numbers. However, four of the Brighton players who went to the World Cup were sold by the club to a Top Six team at the end of the season. World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister moved to Liverpool and Leandro Trossard to Arsenal. While Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez were part of the £1 billion⁵ spending spree from Chelsea’s new owners.

How have international breaks affected the Top Six in recent years?

With so many players being called up for their national teams, it is expected that the Top Six is affected by international breaks.

However, their performances on return have been mixed. Since the start of the 2019/20 season, there have been 20 international breaks (midseason tournaments excluded). Manchester City has recorded the best points per match (2.32) when returning to action after international breaks . This is similar to their overall league performance (2.28 points per match) during that period (between 2019/20 and matchday 14 of 2024/25).

Liverpool played 20 post-international break matches since 2019/20, losing only two of them. The least amongst the Top Six. With 2.30 points per match, they have performed similarly to City on return to action. However slightly better than their overall Premier League record (2.18 points per match).

An uneven playing field post-break?

Arsenal has performed the worst after international breaks with 1.50 points per match. Which is also 0.40 points less than the 1.90 point per match they obtained in the Premier League overall. The Gunners have had a few mitigating factors, however. Amongst the Top Six they have played away in 65 percent (13) of their games after the international break. Chelsea (60 percent) and United (58 percent) have also both played more away games than home games during that time. Spurs on the other hand, has played 65 percent of their matches after international games at home.

Furthermore, on seven occasions (35 percent) Arsenal faced a Top Six team after the international break. Only Manchester City faced a Top Six team more often (8 out of 19, 42 percent). United only faced two Top Six teams post-break since 2019/20 (11 percent).

Arsenal did face four clubs that got relegated at the end of the season though. More than the others, with United and Spurs each facing three such teams.

Extra days before playing in the league

The Gunners also had to play three out of 20 post-break matches on Monday, meaning extra days to recover from traveling and to train. Liverpool, City and United never did. Which is also caused by participation in midweek European club competitions and thus possible scheduling conflicts. Chelsea played 85 percent (17) of their matches on Saturday after players returned from national team duty. The most, with City (79 percent) and Liverpool (70 percent) ranking second and third.

Spurs have only played half of their post-international break matches on Saturday, the least of the Top Six. Combined with playing the highest percentage of matches at home and relatively few other Top Six teams (4), it could explain why they have attained on average more points post-break (1.85) than overall (1.66).

Comparing the Top Six’s schedule and performance after midseason international breaks between 2019/20 and first half 2024/25

Note: Manchester City and Manchester United played 19 games due to a match postponement, while the other teams played 20 games.

The next international break takes place in March 2025. It will be Thomas Tuchel’s first two matches in charge of England. Like most European nations the Three Lions will play World Cup qualifying games. Eight nations will play two-legged quarterfinals for the Nations League. Contrary to recent years, the Premier League returns on Tuesday. With the weekend prior reserved for the FA Cup quarterfinals. Of the Top Six, Liverpool will host city rivals Everton. A derby that took place upon return from an international break twice before since 2019/20 (one Liverpool win and one draw). While Chelsea and Spurs face each other.

How much did the Top Six starting XI play during the international break?

After the international break in November 2024, the Premier League Top Six had starting XIs of which 71 percent of the players (47 out of 66) had played international matches. 45 percent (30 players) had even played two matches. Of those, 70 percent played at least 60 minutes in both matches.

Of the starting XIs, Liverpool and Tottenham included the most players (10 each) who had played at least one match during the international break. Nine Liverpool players even played two matches, compared to seven for Spurs. While six of Arne Slot’s players played at least 60 minutes in both games.

In the 3-2 win against Southampton following the international break, Slot used nine European players. Darwin Núñez (135 minutes with Uruguay) and Mohamed Salah (exempted from international duty with Egypt to minimise injury risk of playing on artificial turf pitch) being the exceptions. The Dutch manager used three substitutes: Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina), Luis Díaz (Colombia) and Wataru Endo (Japan). All three non-European players who had played at least 60 minutes in both their international games.

In Arsenal’s starting XI in their 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest, they had six players who played internationally the week prior. The lowest amongst the Top Six and due to several players being injured or returning from injury. Brazilian Gabriel Magalhães was the only player to have played two full matches.

Obliged to release players

Clubs are obliged to release contracted players during the international breaks. With injuries, especially long-term disablement, the main concern. As missing key players can affect performance massively (e.g. Rodri at Manchester City). Financially it impacts clubs as well, as they continue paying the players during the period they are out.

Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, injuries have cost the 96 clubs across the Big Five leagues €2.3 billion. With cost per injured player calculated by multiplying their daily base salary by the number of days they were injured. In 2023/24, the cost associated with injuries rose by five percent to €732.02 million compared to the season prior. With Premier League clubs incurring the most (€318.80 million).

The Club Protection Programme softens the blow

To insure clubs against injury risk of players while on international duty, the FIFA Club Protection Programme was established in 2012. It makes clubs eligible to receive compensation when a player suffers a long-term injury (more than 28 days) while on international duty. FIFA pays out a maximum of €7.5 million per player per incident for a maximum of 365 days (€20,548 maximum daily). With compensation based on a player’s fixed salary.

For example, Vinicius Jr. sustained a hamstring injury while on national duty with Brazil in November 2023. Initially the forward was expected to miss at least two months, which could have meant a compensation of over €850,000 from FIFA. Eventually, he was back with the squad after 48 days. Excluding the first 28 days (not covered), Madrid’s compensation would have been around €410,000.

During the same international break, rivals Barcelona saw Gavi sustain an ACL injury while with Spain. In October 2024, the young midfielder played his first minutes, over a month after returning to training. Out for just under a year, the financial compensation (over €5 million) will be a poor consolation for Barcelona. Especially as Ronald Araujo (Uruguay) and Pedri (Spain) sustained long-term injuries at the Copa América and Euro respectively. For Pedri, the club will receive around €308,220 while Araujo’s compensation could be around €3 million.

Introducing the programme (budget cap of €80 million) was already validated after the inaugural cycle between September 2012 and end of 2014 resulted in FIFA paying €39.3 million for 126 injury cases.

Backlash either way

The financial compensation goes only so far. With injuries possibly having major consequences for a team’s season and even a manager’s job, it is not surprising that controversial situations arise. Pep Guardiola, for example, said that he had ‘never been so angry’ after John Stones and Kyle Walker returned injured after playing two friendlies with England during the final stages of the 2023/24 season. He sees it as a positive that players are called up and they should go to their national sides. But at the same time, there is a need to respect clubs as they pay the players’ salaries.

Guardiola was also not amused when England manager Lee Carsley called up Jack Grealish who just came back from injury. Grealish wanted to report for international duty but had only had one true training session in two and half weeks. Guardiola believes players should only join up when they are fit and not when they have ‘struggled for the past one, two, three or four weeks’. The incident came off the back of Phil Foden being called up in September while struggling with a virus.

Guardiola’s reaction is understandable, as he has had several players come back from international breaks injured after having barely played for the club. Like Nathan Aké who suffered a hamstring injury in September, after having only played three minutes for City due to fitness and tactical reasons.

However, the backlash when players decide to withdraw from international duty due to a minor knock or not being fully fit is often severe. Harry Kane, for example, was unhappy with nine players withdrawing from the England squad in November. Saying ‘England comes before club’, he believed that some took advantage of it being a tough period of the season. According to manager Carsley, November has historically always been a challenging window when it comes to pull-outs.

Managers considering their players’ health

There are also national team managers who take a player’s and club’s situation into account, before players must make that difficult decision themselves. For example, Egypt let Salah leave for Liverpool after their first match during the October break. With an away game on an artificial turf pitch in Mauritania on the agenda, coach Hossam Hassan wanted to minimise injury risk. With another game on artificial turf in Cape Verde in November and Egypt already having secured a spot at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Salah was allowed to skip both November games as well.

At that point Salah had played 1349 minutes for Liverpool. Only Ryan Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk (both 1350 minutes) had played more (and just one minute).⁵ Like Salah, van Dijk did not play all six international games in the first half of the 2024/25 season either. He was released early by the Dutch national team after receiving a red card during the October break’s first match against Hungary (1-1). While he returned to Liverpool after the first match (90 minutes) in November with manager Ronald Koeman citing medical reasons. He did play 90 minutes for Liverpool when the Premier League returned.

Impact on players

Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães played all six matches (540 minutes) for Brazil during the September, October, and November 2024 international breaks. He played in Brazil (three games), Paraguay, Chile and Venezuela (all one). Upon return to England, the central defender played 90 minutes for Arsenal on all three occasions.

Chris Wood played six matches (387 minutes) during those three international windows as well. Representing New Zealand, the Forest striker travelled to New Zealand, Vanuatu, Mexico and the USA. In the three Premier League matches after these breaks, he played 192 minutes out of a possible 270.

While Spurs forward Son Heung-min played 334 minutes across four matches in South Korea, Oman, Kuwait and Jordan. Missing out on the October break due to a hamstring injury.

How much and where did a selection of players play with their national team? during the Sep., Oct. and Nov. 2024 international windows⁵

Spurs’ Romero had the highest international travel time

So, in addition to the number of minutes played, the location of games has an impact as well. Travel fatigue, time zone differences and being away from family all impact players. It is especially straining for players under contract at European clubs but representing a non-UEFA nation.

Which is visible in the top 10 players of most hours of international travel during the 2023/24 season. ⁶ Tottenham Hotspur and Argentinian international Cristian Romero led the way. He spent 211 hours travelling, covering 162,978 km across 25 trips. He was ahead of Argentina teammate Julián Álvarez. Still at City at the time, the forward travelled 153,869 km across 39 trips. Amongst the top 10, there are nine South American players playing for European clubs. Japan international Hidemasa Morita (Sporting) also made the top ten, having travelled 142,329 km across 28 trips.

Managing workload

It is all part of being a football player, but the problem is that more and more is being asked of players. Players and managers are constantly warning about the increasingly congested football calendar and the extent to which players’ health is considered. With suggestions to implement a workload cap obliging clubs to rest players if they have played too many minutes in consecutive games.

For now, commercial interests still rule. Resulting in managers taking matters in their own hands and taking precautions. At the beginning of the season, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, for example, said his staff were considering ‘giving individual holidays to the players during the season’. After having won the 2023/24 Champions League, Real competes in seven competitions during the 2024/25 season. Including the Club World Cup at the end of the season. It leaves little time for rest and holidays, especially for those travelling across the globe to play for their national teams.

Giving rest to players becomes more difficult when the roster is hit by many injuries though. Which has been the case for Real during the first half of the 2024/25 season. Éder Militão and Daniel Carvajal are out for the season with ACL injuries. While Vinicius, Rodrygo, Thibaut Courtois, Eduardo Camavinga, Jude Bellingham, and Aurélien Tchouaméni are just a few of the players to have missed multiple games through injury.

With Vinicius pointing to the crazy calendar. The forward sustained his latest injury after playing 90 minutes in La Liga. Mere days after coming back from playing two full matches with the Brazilian team in Venezuela and Brazil.

From 2026 onwards, the September and October international windows will be combined into one window featuring four matches per nation.⁷ This will not reduce the number of matches, but it could at least reduce travel time for some players.

Changes in midseason international windows⁷

Blessing of the international break

Sometimes the international break can be a blessing. Especially when players can return from injury. For those not called up, it allows for a period of rest and practice sessions instead of the fast rhythm of playing a match every three days.

Guardiola hoped the international break in November would be good for his team. City had lost four consecutive games, something Guardiola had not yet experienced during his managerial career. Despite some players returning (from injury) it did not quite work out results wise. Upon return, City lost 4-0 at home to Tottenham and failed to win the two subsequent games as well.

The bottom line is that the international break can be a curse or a blessing, depending on a club’s form and roster health. However, over longer periods of time it does not seem to affect clubs’ performances too much. If it does, it could be explained by match circumstances, like opponent, time and location. The international breaks, including the many hours of traveling, do influence players though. Especially non-European players. Which, eventually, impacts team performance as well, when players are out injured or cannot perform at 100 percent.