When do yellow cards reset at World Cup 2018 and which England and Croatia players are banned for semi-final?
Be very careful - it's so easy to be told to make the walk of shame on the greatest soccer stage of them all
BE honest, it is easy to pick up a card in any football match these days, let alone at the World Cup.
And with the World Cup winding up to its finale, fans are anxiously waiting until the yellow card count resets.
But surely yellow cards are wiped out at some stage?
Yes. After the quarter-finals when, just like in the Champions League, players are given a clean slate and are ready to go again.
Players who receive two yellows before the cut-off will serve a one-game ban.
Was it always like this?
No. FIFA first started wiping out yellow cards after the quarter-final round in the 2010 World Cup. By wiping yellow cards out ahead of the semi-finals, only a red card would prevent a player from missing the final.
Fifa used to wipe out yellow cards after the initial group stage. But the governing body wanted to make sure vital players would not be suspended for the final.
So instead of using a system that helps most teams it adopted a system that helps the best teams.
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Who was a major casualty of the previous yellow card system?
In 2002 Germany captain Michael Ballack picked up a yellow card in the semi-final against South Korea, his second of the knockout round.
He was suspended for the final that saw Germany lose 2-0 to Brazil.
And infamously for England, Paul Gascoigne was left in tears after being booked in the 1990 semi-final against West Germany.
But it was ultimately irrelevant as the Germans won on penalties and knocked England out.
Who is banned from the semi-final?
Yellow cards have now been wiped and only one player will miss their country's semi-final.
That is Thomas Meunier of Belgium, who received his second tournament yellow card for a foul on Neymar in the quarter-final.
