😳 Under-20 World Cup brings major change: green card in play, find out more

Have you heard about the green card? Unlike the yellow and red cards, the new card can only be used by coaches, not referees.

And it has already happened twice in this U-20 World Cup!

The first time was in South Korea 1 x 2 Ukraine, last Saturday (27), when the Korean coach, Lee Chang-won, disagreed with a play and showed the card to the referee, forcing a review of the play—which ended up not happening.

¡Debutó la 'Tarjeta Verde' en el futbol! 🟩⚽️

🇰🇷🇺🇦Corea del Sur y Ucrania presenciaron historia.
Luego de una jugada dudosa en el área de Ucrania, el entrenador Coreano, Lee Chang-won, mostró la 'Tarjeta Verde', al final la jugada no procedió. 🤦❌ pic.twitter.com/B7LE6GYb2F

— Jorge MX (@JorgeAldair12) September 27, 2025

In the match between Morocco and Spain (2 x 0), last Sunday (28), the Moroccan coach Mohamed Ouahbi totally disagreed with a penalty that was awarded.

That’s when, instead of just complaining, he also pulled out the green card, which led to a VAR review. Afterwards, the penalty was overturned!

It was the first time the green card "reversed" a decision in a FIFA tournament.

But why did this start happening now, and what could it mean for the future?

Last year, FIFA decided to carry out a pilot project for the U-20 World Cup.

The green card is meant to give coaches—just like in American football (NFL) or basketball (NBA)—the possibility to review certain decisions afterwards.

Per game, a coach can use the green card twice.

In the U-20 World Cup, it can be used for decisions involving penalties, goals, expulsions, and cards wrongly given, such as in cases of confusion between players.

What do you think: is it something useful or does football not need this at all?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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