World Cup 2026: England defender Jarell Quansah banned for two games after Mexico red card, Fifa says
England defender Jarell Quansah was banned for two matches due to the red card he received against Mexico.
Quansah was sent off in the 54th minute of the 3-2 win after a tough challenge from Jesus Gallardo.
This was deemed serious foul play, meaning the Bayer Leverkusen player was given an automatic one-match ban by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, as well as an extra match.
Former Liverpool man Quansah will miss Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway (22:00 BST) and a possible semi-final against Argentina or Switzerland.
Quansah, 23, will be able to play if England reach the final in New Jersey on July 19.
The Football Association (FA) was considering whether to appeal but there is no way to challenge the ban under tournament rules.
But BBC Sport was told that the FA had made very strong statements to Fifa about the process leading to Quansah’s red card decision, saying the referee was shown a still image of the tackle and slow-motion replays before the incident was shown in real time on the pitchside screen, which could lead to ‘result bias’.
In the Premier League, events are always shown in full swing to the officials first; but England’s best performance is excluded from this situation.
This ban makes the job of right-back head coach Thomas Tuchel difficult.
Quansah featured for England against Mexico while Reece James was out injured and Djed Spence was used as a substitute after only a minor fitness problem.
However, Tuchel said he expected James to be ready against Norway after missing the games due to a hamstring injury suffered in the second group game against Ghana.
Tuchel’s assistant coach Anthony Barry said the Quansah news was “disappointing”.
“It’s not about the decision, it’s just disappointing that we lost a good player,” he added.
“He’s been excellent in training and of course we’ve got some injuries at that position, so it seemed like there was a space open for Jarell.
“But the decision has been made, we will not waste any more energy on this. Overall for us we are losing a good player for two games now, but this is just another obstacle we have to overcome.”
Winger Bukayo Saka said the ban was “incredibly frustrating for us and for him”.
“But that’s the way it is. We have to adapt and pick a team that will win against Norway,” he added.
FIFA announced the appointment of French referee Clement Turpin, who helped England beat Croatia 4-2, to referee the Norway match.
