Technical Study Group

FIFA's Technical Study Group published its assessment of the 2026 World Cup on 30 June, finding that winning teams regained possession roughly four seconds faster than the sides they beat .

The panel is the body FIFA appoints to assess the football at each World Cup. For 2026 it was chaired by Pascal Zuberbuhler and guided by Arsene Wenger, FIFA's chief of global football development, with members including the Ghanaian coach Otto Addo.

The review went out with the knockout rounds still to be played, the same day FIFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina published his own officiating findings . Both documents describe a tournament that had not yet finished, three weeks before Spain lifted the trophy.