England defender Jarell Quansah has been handed a two-game ban following his red card against Mexico, FIFA have confirmed. The 23-year-old brought down Jesus Gallardo in the 54th minute of Monday’s World Cup round of 16 showdown at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Despite the Bayer Leverkusen centre-back making contact with the ball, his right leg was raised dangerously high and caught Gallardo in the process.
After a VAR review, referee Alireza Faghani had no hesitation in instantly dismissing Quansah. England went on to win 3-2 in a famous victory, despite being down to 10 men. And they knew the red card would already rule him out of Saturday’s quarter-final clash against Norway in Miami. However, Quansah will now also sit out the semi-final against either Argentina or Switzerland too, should England continue their campaign beyond the last eight.
England are unable to appeal FIFA’s suspension, with Quansah’s challenge deemed to be ‘serious foul play’ which is why he has been banned for two matches rather than the standard one.
FIFA said: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed the following sanction on England’s national-team player Jarell Quansah, who was sent off as a result of a direct red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and England played on July 5, 2026 at Mexico City Stadium:
“Two-match suspension for a breach of article 14 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The suspension will be served in the upcoming match(es) of the representative team of England in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and in accordance with art. 69 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.”
The two-game suspension leaves Thomas Tuchel stretched at right-back after Reece James missed training on Wednesday. Declan Rice was another to skip the session in Kansas City, with the duo – plus Marc Guehi – going through individual programmes away from the main group instead.
After Quansah’s dismissal, England manager Tuchel joked that he could get US President Donald Trump to intervene.
FIFA confirmed that Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban was suspended for 12 months, which controversially meant he could play for co-hosts USA against Belgium. The Belgians went on to win 4-1.
“Maybe, that’s a good starting point,” the German joked when asked if England could lobby Trump to help overturn the ban. Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review into Balogun’s red before it was suspended to allow the USA’s top goalscorer to play.
FIFA utilised a little-known clause in their regulations that allowed them to “suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure”.