The LaLiga 2026/27 season has already begun, although the top teams have yet to kick off their campaigns. Before matchday 1 comes to an end, let's go over the new rules.

The LaLiga season is already underway. It's the only one of the top five European leagues that have kicked off their campaign, although a number of teams had to have their opening matches postponed to allow some World Cup participants time to reincorporate with their clubs.

World Cup rules coming to LaLiga. The decision to kick the season off less than a month after the World Cup final was one that was met with plenty of criticism.

The first match day will be played over the course of 13 days. Deportivo Alavés and Getafe inaugurated the first match day of the season on August 15th, and Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will bring it to a close on the 27th of August.

Now that the league has started, it's time to look at the new rules that will be implemented throughout the season. Many of the rules made their debut in the World Cup, and have been adopted by LaLiga. Others have been adapted after recent controversies led to the need for more transparency on the pitch, and enhanced explanation from the referee and of VAR's decision.

The first few rules that have been implemented for this season come directly from the World Cup, and have to do with time management. The objective of the new rules is to prevent teams from wasting time, and keeping a fluid pace of play.

One of the first rules introduced from the World Cup by the CTA (Technical Committee of Referees) centers around players receiving medical treatment. Any player who has to be tended to by medical staff will be forced to stay on the touchline for one minute. The only exception is if it's a goalkeeper injury, a head collision between multiple players or if the foul that caused the injury results with a yellow or a red card.

Time wasting will be punished. If a keeper happens to receive medical treatment on the pitch which cause a break in play, and there wasn't a sanctioned foul, then the team manager will have to pick from a player in the field to sit out the one minute as soon as play resumes.

Another rule adopted by FIFA at the World Cup and instituted in this LaLiga campaign is the ten seconds that players who are being substituted will have to exit the pitch. Should the player fail to do so the replacement will have to wait a minute to come on to the pitch.

One last rule that was adopted after the World Cup to prevent time wasting was the five second countdown refs will implement if a team is taking too long to restart the match during a set piece. If time runs out and play has not began, possession will be given to the other team.

There have been some discrepancies with VAR in past LaLiga campaigns, and now the federation is looking to clear up communication and decision making. If a referee shows a yellow card or a red card to the wrong players, they can go to review to make sure the correct player was sanctioned.

VAR will be able to review the identity of the player, but not the on-field foul, which differs from the World Cup's interpretation of the rule.

In LaLiga's version of this rule, Switzerland's Breel Embolo would not have been shown a red card.