Iceland become first victims of 10-second substitution rule and concede a man down

May 31, 2026

Luckily Iceland aren’t at the 2026 World Cup.

The European nation were taking on Japan in a pre-tournament friendly when they became victims of IFAB’s new 10-second substitution rule.

Players now have 10 seconds to leave the pitch when their number is raised, or their team will have to wait until the next pause in play to replace them.

Iceland’s Kristian Hlynsson took too long to leave the pitch against Japan in the 84th minute, so Isak Thorvaldsson was stopped from coming on by the fourth official.

Iceland concede a man down due to the 10 second World Cup rule — Two players came off, but one was too late

The score was 0-0 at the time, and rather remarkably, Japan scored while a man up a minute later.

NEC Nijmegen’s Koki Ogawa scored the winner, leaving the Iceland bench both annoyed and confused.

Those are the rules, though, and it’s hard to image Japan making a repeat when they begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on June 14th.