Soccer APIs – Support for Late Substitution Events

We've added a boolean late attribute to relevant substitution events in all Soccer API Timeline endpoints. This flag indicates when a substitution was delayed because the player being replaced did not leave the field within the required time limit under the new substitution procedure introduced for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

⭐ Benefit

Reference the event.late flag on substitution events to identify delayed substitutions. When late="true", the player being replaced did not leave the field within the required time limit, resulting in the incoming substitute being temporarily prevented from entering the field. During this delay, the team briefly plays with one fewer player until the substitution is completed.

☑️ Sample Request:

Sport Event Timeline

curl --request GET \
     --url https://api.sportradar.com/soccer-extended/trial/v4/en/sport_events/{sport_event_id}/timeline.json \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'

🔢 Versions

• Soccer v4 API
• Soccer Extended v4 API

🔁 Endpoints Affected

Soccer

• Live Timelines
• Live Timelines Delta
• Sport Event Timeline
• Push Events

Soccer Extended

• Live Timelines
• Live Timelines Delta
• Sport Event Extended Timeline
• Sport Event Timeline
• Push Events

⚙️ Return Sample

<event id="3002309890" type="substitution" time="2026-05-21T19:46:21+00:00" match_time="53" match_clock="52:30" competitor="home" period="2" period_type="regular_period" late="true">