FIFA is poised to overhaul its disciplinary regulations for the upcoming World Cup, introducing a strategic “double amnesty” stage to protect players from suspension during the tournament’s knockout rounds.

The proposed rule change, set to be discussed at the FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver on Tuesday, comes in response to the World Cup’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams.

Under current regulations, yellow cards are only wiped after the quarter-final stage—a measure famously introduced to prevent stars from missing the final, as German captain Michael Ballack did in 2002.

However, with the 2026 edition featuring an additional knockout round (the Round of 32), players would have had to navigate six high-stakes fixtures to reach the semi-finals. FIFA officials fear that without a change, the “jeopardy” for a ban would be too high, potentially robbing the tournament’s penultimate matches of its biggest stars.

How the New System Works

Instead of increasing the suspension threshold to three cards, FIFA plans to introduce two distinct “pockets” of games:

• First Amnesty: All yellow cards accumulated during the three group-stage matches will be wiped before the Round of 32 begins.
• Second Amnesty: Remaining single yellow cards will be wiped again after the quarter-finals.

To receive a one-match suspension, a player must now pick up two bookings within the group stage, OR two bookings across the Round of 32, Round of 16, and Quarter-finals combined.

Sources indicate that FIFA believes this “two cut-offs” approach is fairer than simply increasing the number of allowed cautions. It ensures that players are not penalized for a single booking picked up early in the group stages when they reach the business end of the tournament.

The decision is expected to be finalized during FIFA’s meetings in Vancouver this week, which will culminate in the annual congress on Thursday. The World Cup is scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.