Maradona’s eerie 2018 ‘prediction’ of 2026’s four-period World Cup format
A 2018 TV comment by Diego Maradona about four 25-minute periods aligns with FIFA’s 2026 cooling break rule, fueling conspiracy-adjacent sports lore.
Diego Maradona allegedly predicted in 2018 that FIFA would split World Cup matches into four 25-minute periods for advertising breaks—a claim now echoing the tournament’s 2026 format. In a 2018 interview on *La Viola*, an Argentine sports program, Maradona suggested that FIFA would divide games into four segments to maximize commercial slots, framing it as a cynical but predictable move. The claim resurfaced in 2024 after FIFA confirmed the 2026 World Cup would feature cooling breaks every 25 minutes of play, effectively creating four distinct periods per half.
