The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and although the goals are flowing, the yellow cards are as well. But when do players have to worry about the yellow cards they have accumulated?
This was a question that was posed after Harry Kane and a number of other captains such as Virgil van Dijk, Simon Kjaer and Gareth Bale alongside their national teams decided to abandon the One Love campaign during the World Cup, over fears they would receive a booking alongside other sanctions.
To begin with all yellow cards from qualifiers are wiped, so all players have and will start the tournament with a clean sheet. But from this point forward the rules start to apply.
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World Cup 2022 suspension rules
If a player picks up two yellow cards in separate matches in the first four matches of the tournament, so the three group stage matches and the Round of 16, then you are banned for the following match. For example, if you receive a yellow card in your first game and then again in the round of 16, you are banned for the quarter finals.
The only wipe during the tournament comes between when the quarter finals begin. The count then resets and you can receive two yellow cards in separate matches again before you are banned for the following game, though in this case, it would have a massive bearing as if you received a booking during the quarter and semi-finals you would be unable to compete in the final if your team was to reach it.
England and Gareth Southgate will be happy that the team were able to navigate the Iran fixture without receiving a booking, though many fans will still be disappointed that Kane did not wear the armband to send a message that is much bigger than the game being played on the pitch.
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