Overview
- IFAB, which writes soccer’s laws, met Tuesday in Vancouver and unanimously approved two FIFA-backed discipline changes that will be in force at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- Covering the mouth during a face-off with an opponent can now bring a red card to deter hidden discriminatory or abusive language.
- Leaving the field in protest can lead to a red card, and a team that causes a game to be abandoned can be ruled to have lost by forfeit, with sanctions also possible for staff who incite a walk-off.
- Competition organizers and referees retain discretion over how to apply these sanctions, which IFAB framed as tools to curb improper conduct.
- FIFA is advancing a separate plan, reported by AP as a proposal, to wipe yellow-card totals twice in 2026—after the group stage and again after the quarterfinals—to reduce suspensions in the expanded 48-team format.