The countdown to the2026 World Cupis on! Each day ahead of the tournament's return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world's biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year's global event.
Yellow-card cautions and red-card ejections are typical occurrences in soccer. The game's physicality and intensity make rash tackles and bad decision-making inevitable.
At a World Cup, those moments of poor judgement on the field can carry enormous consequences. Just ask Senegal.
During the 2018 World Cup, Senegal finished group play level with Japan on points (4), goals scored (4) and conceded (4), and goal differential (0). Even their head-to-head meeting ended in a 2-2 draw.
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FIFA's group-stage tiebreakers had run out.
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The last tiebreaker available before the drawing of lots —yes, that's real— is fair play record, a method that tracks the number of yellow and red cards teams accumulate during the group stage. Teams are docked one point for a yellow card, three points for a player earning two yellow cards in a match, four points for a direct red card, and five points for a yellow followed by direct red card.
Following their three games, Japan had received four yellow cards, two fewer than the six received by Senegal.
That tiny difference sent Japan through to the knockout rounds — where they would bow out in the Round of 16 to Belgium — and left Senegal as the first team in World Cup history eliminated on fair play points.