The 2026 World Cup is just around the corner, and FIFA has started to make changes in certain areas to improve the experience for both the consumer and the player, and it is directly related to cards. FIFA is set to agree to wipe all yellow cards after the World Cup group stages and quarter-finals.
According to The Athletic, the decision has been made to reduce the danger of players missing the World Cup’s knockout matches. “The new rules around suspensions for accumulated bookings at this year’s tournament in United States, Canada, Mexico are expected to be approved later this week”, ” said The Athletic.
A fairly understandable measure, as the teams will have their stars available in the later rounds of the competition, and it will allow a game without fear of losing valuable players, but it also takes away that edge that adds to the competition, as in that sense, nobody cares about managing yellow cards.
The other measure to be implemented
And that is not the only measure regarding cards; now, red cards can be given for other actions that go beyond aggressive play, according to The Times. FIFA is set to impose a red card for players who cover their mouths when confronting an opponent at the World Cup 2026. It is worth noting that this is something very common among soccer players.
And not only that, but FIFA also plans for an instant dismissal for players who leave the pitch in protest at a referee’s decision. This measure comes from a very memorable event, and it is the controversial situation between Prestianni and Vinicius Jr during their Champions League match.
Where Prestianni suggested something very serious to Vinicius, but it had to go through advanced investigations, and became a very controversial topic because it was not clear what exactly was said, precisely because he was covering his mouth while speaking.
How the previous yellow card system worked
In the World Cup, players must serve a one match suspension if they receive a yellow card in two different matches, but in previous tournaments they were cleared after the quarterfinal stage.
That ensured that no player would miss the final due to suspension simply for receiving a yellow card in the semifinal. The expanded World Cup format, now with 48 teams and an additional round of sixteen, led FIFA to make a change in order to keep players on the pitch.
