There are six players suspended for Matchday 3 of the FIFA World Cup, five as a result of yellow card accumulation and one due to a Matchday 2 dismissal.
Other than that, however, Fantasy managers don’t need to worry too much about the yellow card count for the time being.
Unlimited transfers are handed to every FIFA World Cup Fantasy boss after Matchday 3 is over, so any one-match suspensions picked up over the next four days can be dealt with painlessly enough.
The slate is eventually wiped clean after the quarter-finals, so a player effectively has to avoid two yellow cards in his first five appearances in order to swerve a ban.
The below information is taken from our Premium Members Area, where you’ll find tonnes of Opta player and team data from not just Qatar 2022 but World Cup qualifying and, of course, the Premier League, too.
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BANNED FOR MATCHDAY 3
Most of these players are Fantasy footnotes but Abdulelah Almalki ($3.5m) is one name you might recognise – he is the cheapest midfielder in the entire FIFA game and sits in 5.6% of squads.
Wayne Hennessey ($4.5m) is the odd man out in that his suspension was as a result of a red card.
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There are, by our reckoning, exactly 100 players who are sitting on one yellow card as we go into Matchday 3.
While we don’t need to worry about any future one-match bans themselves due to the short-term strategising we are now presented with, it’s worth pointing out who might get rested for their countries in Matchday 3 in order to avoid being banned for the round of 16.
The once-booked Bruno Fernandes ($9.5m) is one possible candidate. With Portugal already qualified for the knockout rounds, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the FIFA Fantasy game’s leading points scorer be handed a breather against South Korea.
Matchday 2 starters Ruben Neves ($7.5m), Ruben Dias ($5.5m) and Joao Felix ($8.0m) are walking the same suspension tightrope, along with the injured Danilo Pereira ($4.5m).
France and Brazil will likely rotate as they too have qualified from the group stage: Jules Kounde ($6.0m) and the much-maligned Fred ($6.0m) are the only players from either side on one yellow card, with Kounde one of the names that L’Equipe thinks will be rested against Tunisia.
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