How Many World Cup Players Are Nearing Yellow Card Bans in Quarterfinals?
The World Cup quarterfinals kick off on Friday, but even if some players' teams advance, they individually may not reach the semifinals because of yellow cards.
If players who have received one yellow card thus far in Russia are given their second, they will be banned from their next match. Yellow cards are only wiped after the quarterfinals, which ensures that only players sent off in the semifinal would miss the final.
All eight teams in the quarterfinals have players facing this scenario. Notable players on the list include Brazil's Neymar and Philippe Coutinho, as well as France's Paul Pogba and Olivier Giroud and Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne.
Croatia leads the list with most players with yellow cards (eight).
A total of 189 yellow cards and four red cards have been issued during the World Cup. An average of 3.40 yellow cards are handed out per match, according to ESPN.
Here's the full list of players carrying yellow cards into the quarterfinals:
Brazil
Neymar
Philippe Coutinho
Filipe Luis
Croatia
Marcelo Brozovic
Vedran Corluka
Tin Jedvaj
Mario Mandzukic
Marko Pjaca
Ivan Rakitic
Ante Rebic
Sime Vrsaljko
Belgium
Kevin De Bruyne
Leander Dendoncker
Thomas Meunier
Youri Tielemans
Jan Vertonghen
Russia
Yury Gazinsky
Aleksandr Golovin
Ilya Kutepov
Fyodor Smolov
Roman Zobnin
France
Olivier Giroud
Benjamin Pavard
Paul Pogba
Corentin Tolisso
England
Jordan Henderson
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Jesse Lingard
Kyle Walker
Sweden
Viktor Claesson
Albin Ekdal
Uruguay
Rodrigo Bentancur