Declan Rice picked up his second yellow card of the World Cup during England’s win over Mexico, so does that mean he now faces a suspension?
Having previously been booked against Ghana in the group stage, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice picked up his second yellow of the 2026 World Cup in the opening minute of England’s 3-2 win over Mexico.
Those who have been following the World Cup so far will likely be aware that two yellows is enough to earn you a one-match ban, but not in this case.
The accumulated yellow cards are now wiped after the group stage, and again after the quarter-finals.
With the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, and an extra knockout round as a result, the rules were changed to be a little more lenient to teams that make long runs at the tournament.
Given Rice’s first yellow was in the group stage, it’s already been wiped from his record. So his booking against Mexico puts him back one away from a suspension.
This does mean that if Rice is booked against Norway, he would then be suspended for a potential semi-final. The yellows are only wiped after the quarters, so it’s still possible to pick up a ban during the quarters.
Once the yellows are wiped again, it’s then impossible to receive a yellow-card ban for the World Cup final. Which is the point.
On that basis, many of Arsenal’s World Cup internationals have already avoided a yellow-card ban.
Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, William Saliba, and Martin Odegaard haven’t picked any yellows at the tournament, and they only have one game left to do so before the semi-final wipe.
Leandro Trossard, David Raya, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi also haven’t received any yellow cards, but they still have a last-16 game to pick up their first. Yellows in both the last-16 and the quarters would see them suspended.
But it looks like Rice is the only player seriously at risk of a yellow-card suspension in the remainder of the tournament.
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