As the second round of the FIFA World Cup gets underway on Saturday with France taking on Argentina, there are bigger concerns for some players and even more for team management of respective teams. With Senegal going out of the World Cup on the basis of their disciplinary record, that could play a factor going forward in the tournament with some influential players on the horizon of missing future games – should their teams progress – by picking a yellow card.
Players at the World Cup will be banned for one match if they pick up two yellow cards before the semi-final stage.
Among the teams, Colombia, Russia, Germany (already eliminated) have the worst disciplinary record while Uruguay, Spain, Saudi Arabia (already out of the tournament) have the best disciplinary record with one yellow card each in the three games.
As far as players are concerned, some of the biggest names who could miss a potential quarterfinal game, should their respective team go forward, are Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Paul Pogba. As per the rules, a player picks up one match ban even if he picks up a yellow card in two different games.
When are bookings wiped away?
The bookings are removed from a players’ records after the quarter-final stage, meaning no one will go into the semi-final fearing a yellow could end their hopes of making an appearance at the World Cup final. A player would only miss the final with a suspension if they were to be sent off in the semifinals.
Key players who are booking away from suspension
Neymar, Philippe Coutinho (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Kevin De Buryne (Belgium), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia), Kyle Walker (England), Aleksandr Golovin (Russia), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Xherdan Shaqiri, Valon Behrami (Switzerland).