FIFA is expected to decide that yellow cards will be reset after the group stage for the upcoming World Cup, with the decision to be made at the board meeting in Vancouver, Canada on Tuesday. According to media reports, the change comes less than two months before the tournament, which is expanding from 32 to 48 teams, resulting in more matches and an extra knockout round. Under current regulations, two yellow cards in any of the five matches before the quarterfinals lead to a one-game suspension.
FIFA wants to avoid a scenario where many players are at risk of missing key knockout matches later in the tournament. Sources indicate the proposed reset would cut the number of matches in which a player risks suspension with the next warning. The rule change is particularly relevant because the World Cup is expanding from 32 to 48 teams, which adds an additional knockout round, according to media reports.
This expansion means more matches and, according to media reports, a greater chance that star players could be lost to accumulation of bookings. The FIFA Council in Vancouver is expected to vote on the measure at its meeting. However, it has not been disclosed how card accumulation in the knockout phase would be managed.
The potential rule change has been under discussion for some time, with FIFA aiming to balance fairness and entertainment. In other football news, Manchester United beat Brentford 2-1 at home on Monday, according to match reports. Casemiro opened the scoring with a header, while Bruno Fernandes delivered his 19th assist of the season just before halftime, per Premier League data.
Brentford's consolation goal came from Mikkel Jensen three minutes before full time, and Norwegian defender Kristoffer Ajer was an unused substitute for the visitors, team sheets showed. Fernandes is now one assist away from tying the Premier League record of 20 assists in a single season, a mark held jointly by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry, league records confirm. If Fernandes provides another assist, he would match the historic benchmark, though whether he achieves this remains to be seen.