What do the yellow/red cards do in the world cup?

“Yellow Card – Indicates a formal “caution” for any of the following 7 offenses:

1. “unsporting behavior” – this includes hard fouls; holding an opponent or deliberately handling the ball for the purpose of preventing an opponent from gaining possession of the ball; faking an injury; saying things that are designed to confuse or distract an opponent; harassment (such as jumping around, shouting or making gestures to intentionally distract an opponent; jumping in front of a corner kick, free kick or throw-in; worrying the goalkeeper or trying to prevent him from putting the ball into play; & adopting a threatening posture), gaining an unfair advantage by leaning on, climbing on the back of, or holding a teammate or the goal; blatant cases of holding and pulling an opposing player or his uniform; any action designed to deceive the Referee; and behavior which in the Referee’s judgment is unsporting or causes an unfair advantage,

2. dissent by word or actions,

3. persistently breaking the rules,

4. delaying the restart of play,

5. defenders failing to stay the proper distance away from the kicker on a corner kick, free kick or throw-in (see “Corner Kick” & “Free Kick”),

6. entering or re-entering the field without the referee’s permission

7. deliberately leaving the field without the referees permission.

A player who receives 2 Yellow Cards is given a Red Card & ejected. FIFA rules do not require a player to leave the field for the first yellow card. However, some leagues’ rules do. You must go by your league’s rules. (See “Yellow Card” & “Worrying The Goalkeeper”).”

“Red Card – A player must be shown a Red Card and “sent off” (i.e., made to leave the field) for the 7 offenses listed below. A player shown a “Red Card” & sent off may not be replaced during that game (i.e., his team must play a player “short” for the rest of the game; however, in some leagues a player may be replaced if he is ejected for receiving a second Yellow Card). The 7 offenses for which a player must be shown a Red Card and sent off are:

1. serious foul play (includes any use of excessive force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball. Examples include a dangerous slide tackle from behind, or an “over the top tackle” in which a player raises his foot so the cleats could hit a player, or a two footed tackle that takes down the opponent. FIFA has broadened this definition by saying that “Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play. For current rules visit www.fifa.com, Laws of the Game. The above quote is from Questions and Answers, Additional Instructions for Referees). The rules now include “Decision 4”, which says: “A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as serious foul play”.

2. violent conduct,

3. spitting at anyone,

4. deliberately touching the ball with a hand in order to prevent a goal or to deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity (such as to prevent a “Breakaway”.... this does not apply to the goalkeeper within his own Penalty Box)

5. fouling an opponent to prevent an obvious goal scoring opportunity (e.g., holding to stop a breakaway),

6. using offensive, insulting or threatening language and/or gestures,

7. or receiving a second yellow card in one game.”
Source

Getting a red or two yellows in one game will automatically ban you from the next match. In addition, your yellow card sticks with you, and if you get another in the tournament, you are suspended from the next match. However, after the quarter-finals, the slate is wiped clean (new rule for the 2010 World Cup), so if you get a single yellow card in the semi-final, you won’t be suspended for the final (which happened to Michael Ballack in 2002).

The yellow only sticks with you for suspensions, though. If you get a yellow card in game 1 and another in game 2, you aren’t kicked out of game 2, just suspended for game 3.

That’s kind of scary then. When I watched the England/US match last night, there were like 8 yellow cards handed out between both teams.

So if any of them get yellowed in the next game, either team could lose a good bit of their roster.

When you get suspended, are your yellows then wiped off?

@Zone36 Yes, you start fresh after a suspension. But there aren’t very many games in the World Cup, so you don’t get a lot of chances. Yellow cards are definitely to be avoided. Once the teams start playing their second games, you’ll notice when they’re putting up the lineups they will note which players are on yellows and facing suspension. Sometimes coaches will sit those players so they don’t risk the suspension.

I would like to answer your question simply. The answer of your first question is no, it does not carry over to the next match. The second answer is: getting one red card keep a player out of game next 3 matches.

And it would be great if you ask questions more specifically about soccer. Then we would easily answer those.

Thanks.

Two yellow ones is a so-called “yellow-red” card. The player has to leave. A red card is worse. The severity determines the number of games a player is not allowed to participate.

@ArpitaBarua Sorry, you’re wrong. A red card does not mean an automatic 3 match ban. That’s at the discretion of FIFA. Tim Cahill only has a 1 match ban at this point after getting a straight red against Germany yesterday, but the disciplinary committee will be meeting today to determine if it should be longer.

@ArpitaBarua…you might want to check the answer by cfrydj who better answered the question “does it carry over into the next match?” If you get another yellow card in a later match, depending on when you received it, you may be watching the next match from the sidelines. Sorry ole chap.

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