England’s World Cup campaign has been dealt a blow after Jarell Quansah received a two-match ban for his red card against Mexico, a decision that has left Thomas Tuchel furious and the Football Association making strong representations to Fifa over the VAR process that led to the dismissal.
The Bayer Leverkusen defender was sent off in the 54th minute of England’s 3-2 last-16 victory following a high challenge on Jesus Gallardo. Fifa’s disciplinary committee ruled it as serious foul play, adding an extra match to the automatic one-game suspension, meaning Quansah will miss Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway and a potential semi-final against Argentina or Switzerland. The 23-year-old former Liverpool man will only be available if England reach the final in New Jersey on 19 July.
“Jarell Quansah banned two matches for red card; FA furious over VAR process.”
The FA considered an appeal but quickly discovered there is no avenue to contest the ban under tournament regulations. Instead, according to BBC Sport, the FA made “very strong representations” to Fifa arguing that referee Alireza Faghani was shown a still image of the tackle and slow-motion replays before seeing the incident in real-time on the pitchside screen—a sequence that could have resulted in “outcome bias”. In the Premier League, officials are shown incidents at full speed first, though England’s top flight is an outlier.
Tuchel immediately requested the FA lodge their annoyance at the decision, according to a Sky Sports report cited by the Mirror, with the England boss particularly annoyed that Faghani saw a freeze-frame of Quansah’s studs on Gallardo upon arriving at the monitor. Assistant coach Anthony Barry described the news as “disappointing”, adding: “Not with the decision, just the fact that we lose a good player … the decision’s been made—we won’t waste any more energy on it.”
Bukayo Saka, speaking at England’s Kansas City training base, admitted the ban was “incredibly frustrating for him and us”, but struck a defiant tone: “It is what it is, we are not here to complain, we are here to adapt and to pick a team that is ready to beat Norway.”
The ban deepens Tuchel’s right-back headache. Reece James has missed the last three matches with a hamstring injury, though Tuchel has said he expects James to be available against Norway. Djed Spence is the most natural alternative, while Ezri Konsa filled in after Quansah’s sending-off, but Tuchel is reluctant to break up Konsa’s central defensive partnership with Marc Guéhi.
The severity of Quansah’s punishment has drawn comparisons with the treatment of United States forward Folarin Balogun, who was also sent off for serious foul play but had his one-match ban controversially suspended by Fifa. Saka declined to comment on the inconsistency, simply saying: “It was Fifa’s decision.”
Fifa has appointed French referee Clement Turpin, who officiated England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, to take charge of the Norway quarter-final. Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly are all one yellow card away from a one-match suspension, though cautions will be wiped after the quarter-finals.
For Quansah, his World Cup will be over unless England beat Norway in Miami this weekend.
