Audio By Carbonatix
Any soccer players from the United States and/or Mexico will not be suspended for the first match of the World Cup if they pick up a red card during the Gold Cup final. That ruling also applies to Jacob Shaffelburg of Team Canada after he was awarded a second yellow card in a loss to Guatemala.
They will be allowed to serve their ban during an upcoming friendly.
This specific dilemma bubbled to the surface because of Shaffelburg. The 25-year-old Canadian soccer player was removed from the contest after a violent challenge during the Gold Cup quarterfinal. The pair of yellow cards was upgraded to an automatic red. He was ejected as a result of the red.
Team Canada will not play another competitive match until 2026 at the World Cup. Its next six matches are friendlies leading up to the highest level of international competition.
As the rules are written, a player who receives a red card must serve a suspension in his next competitive match. Thus, Jacob Shaffelburg was expected to miss the first game of the World Cup because of his double yellow (if he is even selected for the roster). Players for the United States and Mexico would be in a similar situation. They needed to play extremely careful during the Gold Cup Final to avoid a red card and a subsequent suspension for the next competitive match at the World Cup.
That is no longer the case. CONCACAF has since clarified the situation. Nobody will miss the World Cup. The suspension will instead apply to the next friendly.
Following extensive discussions with FIFA, Concacaf is now in a position to confirm that any 2025 Gold Cup pending suspension for Canada, Mexico, and the United States (co-hosts of next year’s World Cup) must be served during their next international friendly match and not during the FIFA World Cup 2026.
— CONCACAF
A red card during a continental tournament will not carry over to the world tournament. Every single team at the World Cup in 2026 will have its full roster for the opening match. Any red cards from that point forward would then apply to the next match of the World Cup. FIFA made sure to clarify this awkward predicament under article 69.3 of its disciplinary code.
If a representative team is hosting a final competition and is consequently not required to participate in qualifying matches to reach the final competition of this tournament and its next official match is in that final competition, any match suspension shall be carried over to the representative team’s next friendly match.
— FIFA disciplinary code
That settles that! Canada, the United States and Mexico will not be without any of their players for the first match of the World Cup. Anybody who gets a red card in the Gold Cup final on Sunday will be suspended for the next friendly. Jacob Shaffelburg is banned from his next friendly.