4 min readMumbaiJun 19, 2026 08:33 PM IST If you spent too long at the nachos or hamburgers queues and ambled in late to your seats, you might miss the influence of rugby on football. At this World Cup, teams have adopted an unusual kick-off move that’s both unique and counter-intuitive. This time around, it isn’t always the good-old gentle pass to a teammate after the referee’s whistle. Top teams like France and Morocco, among others, have been commencing play with a long curling ball forward that crosses the side-line. The idea is to kick the ball as close to the corner flag so that the rivals get a throw-in in the final third of the field. So what is to be gained by losing possession? For starters it gets you to gain space and accelerates the march forward. Like in rugby’s lineouts, the ball sent past the sideline can save on plenty of dribbling effort. Since this is at the start of the game, it provides the team a dead-ball start opportunity, pretty deep …