The World Cup quarter-final ties are now locked in, the first of the matches kick-off on Thursday.
Perhaps the biggest talking point from this summer’s tournament has been Folarin Balogun’s suspension U-turn by FIFA.
Following intervention from the President of the United States of America, the USMNT striker was suddenly available to play against Belgium despite picking up a red card in the previous game.
These 4 need to be VERY careful vs Norway… rank them in importance of who England cannot afford to lose…
Yellow cards are reset after the quarter-finals
Suspensions will be a big topic of focus heading into the latest round of fixtures, with 17 players at risk of seeing another yellow card, which would make them ineligible for the semi-final – should their team make it.
These players have already picked up a yellow card in one of the two knockout games so far; another yellow card in their respective quarter-final would put them out of their potential semi-final ties.
Which players are at risk of a FIFA suspension at the World Cup
Argentina and Switzerland booked their spots in the final eight on Tuesday, with Morocco, England, France, Spain, Belgium and Norway making up the remaining sides.
England and Morocco have the most players at risk, with four of their squad members already picking up a yellow card.
- Issa Diop – Morocco
- Achraf Hakimi – Morocco
- Redouane Halhal – Morocco
- Bilal El Khannouss – Morocco
- Jude Bellingham – England
- Nico O’Reilly – England
- Declan Rice – England
- Marc Guehi – England
Next up it is Switzerland, who have three players walking the tightrope, following Tuesday’s victory over Colombia.
- Granit Xhaka – Switzerland
- Denis Zakaria – Switzerland
- Miro Muheim – Switzerland
he favourites to get their hands on the trophy, France, are heading into their quarter-final clash against Morocco with just two players on yellow cards.
- Michael Olise – France
- Manu Kone – France
There are then four players from the other four nations that are going to have to be careful in their respective quarter-final clashes.
- Ferran Torres – Spain
- Antonio Nusa – Norway
- Brandon Mechele – Belgium
- Gonzalo Montiel – Argentina
For whichever four sides make it through to the semi-finals, their players will have their disciplinary records reset.
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