The 2026-27 season will see a major change to the international break for Pompey and their Championship rivals

Are you already fed up with the international break? Are you someone who believes it comes far too early into the season? Have you been left disappointed that it will take almost two excruciating weeks to see Connor Chaplin or any of the Blues’ other deadline day signings in action?

Well, if the answer is yes, then we’ve got some good news for you. From next season onwards, FIFA have decided to shake up the international fixtures calendar.

Indeed, it has been confirmed that football’s governing body will be reducing the number of international breaks from four to three.

The two-week, two-game November and March pauses to the domestic fixture programme for Pompey & Co will remain in place as normal. However, the September and October stoppages - which are also two weeks long - will be condensed into one larger break of three weeks duration.

That has already been confirmed for September 21 to October 6 in 2026, with national sides able to play four games in that period.

November’s break will be from November 9-17, with international games in March 2027 taking place between 22-30 of that month.

The decision represents a big change in FIFA’s scheduling and avoids any unwanted early disruption to teams’ seasons so soon after their summer breaks.

The current international break came into force just four matches into Pompey’s latest Championship campaign. It also overlapped with the ending of this summer’s transfer window (September 1), with Blues supporters having to wait until this weekend’s south-coast derby against Southampton on Sunday, September 14, to see any of their deadline day recruits - including Chaplin - in action.

That’s far too long for some fans, who just want to see their new boys play sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for the managers, who might not be able to work with their newest recruits until after they return from international duty. In Pompey’s case, Mackenzie Kirk was signed from St Johnstone on deadline day, but he’s been with Northern Ireland under-21s ever since as they prepare for a European Championship qualifier against Georgia on Tuesday.

The striker will not be able to link up with his new team-mates until probably Thursday, by which stage Pompey will be well into their preparations for Sunday’s trip to St Mary’s.

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FIFA statement and which Pompey players are currently away

A statement from FIFA read: ‘FIFA’s objective in this process is to make a football calendar that is ‘fit-for-purpose’ for modern needs, contributing for the improvement of the quality of players, clubs and national teams and giving both incentive and opportunity for the detection and development of talent outside a small number of countries.’

Kirk is one of five players currently on international duty with their respective countries. The other three are Terry Devlin (Northern Ireland), Adrian Segecic and Hayden Matthews (both Australia) and Luke Le Roux (South Africa).

This year will be the last time the Blues will have to release players for international duty so early into the season, with the new changes in force until 2030.

For your next Pompey read: Southampton v Portsmouth: Early team and injury news ahead of south-coast derby