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Key takeaways
- A send-off ends that player’s match. They must leave the field and the technical area.
- After kick-off, the dismissed player cannot be replaced. The team finishes a player short.
- Before kick-off, a named substitute may take the place. That substitute cannot then be replaced.
- Match bans are competition rules, not the IFAB Laws. Leagues set length and appeals.
The consequences of a red card in soccer start when the referee shows it: the player is sent off, must leave the field and the technical area, and after kick-off cannot be replaced. The score does not change by itself. A free kick or penalty may still restart play. This page is the after-the-card ledger. The send-off moment itself is covered in our red-card send-off guide.
Contents
- What a send-off actually changes
- Ten players, no replacement
- After the whistle: bans and reviews
- Offences that trigger a send-off
- FAQ
- Can a player be replaced after a red card?
- How many games do you miss for a red card?
- What happens if a goalkeeper gets a red card?
- Does a red card carry over to the next game?
- Sources
What a send-off actually changes
IFAB Law 12 treats a red card as a sending-off. Only a player, substitute, substituted player, or team official may be shown a card. A player, substitute, or substituted player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area.
That is the on-field half of the ledger. The team plays the rest of the match with one fewer player. The dismissed person takes no further part. Remaining substitutes stay available, subject to the competition’s substitution limits.
| Moment | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Card shown | Leave the field and technical area. No further part in the match. | Law 12 |
| After kick-off | Cannot be replaced. Team is a player short until full time. | Law 3 |
| Named, before kick-off | A named substitute may take the place. That substitute cannot be replaced. Substitution count is not reduced. | Law 3 |
| Fewer than seven | The match may not continue. | Law 3 |
| After full time | Any ban, fine, or appeal sits in the competition’s disciplinary code. | League / FIFA tournament rules |
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Ten players, no replacement
IFAB Law 3 is blunt after kick-off: a player who is sent off cannot be replaced. That is why a send-off is not a hockey-style sin bin. The numerical hole lasts until the referee ends the match.
A named substitute who is sent off, before or after kick-off, may not be replaced. The number of substitutions the team is permitted to make is not reduced. The bench shrinks. The eleven on the field do not, until a later substitution uses one of those remaining slots.
A goalkeeper who is sent off still leaves. The team must have a goalkeeper before play restarts. That can be a substitute goalkeeper, which costs an outfield place, or one of the remaining players putting on the jersey when no substitutes remain. Full walkthrough: can you substitute a dismissed player.
- Referee shows the red card and records the sending-off.
- The offender leaves the field and the technical area.
- Restart follows the offence: free kick, penalty, or the Law 12 restart that applies.
- The team reshapes with ten. Unused substitutes remain unused until a legal change.
CTA: Read the send-off mechanics next to this after-card ledger — what happens when the card comes out.
After the whistle: bans and reviews
The Laws of the Game stop at the sending-off. They do not publish a 1-match or 3-match tariff. Competition organizers add the ban, the fine, and the review window. Treat any “standard three-game ban” table as a league rumor until you open that competition’s disciplinary code.
Major League Soccer publishes one such process. Under the 2025 MLS Send-Off Review Procedure, clubs may appeal a red card, or a second yellow that produced a send-off, to an Independent Review Panel. Written notice is due within 24 hours of the match. Full evidence is due within 48 hours. Upholding an appeal requires a unanimous IRP vote. A denied appeal that the panel calls frivolous forfeits the club’s $25,000 bond, strips remaining appeal rights for the current season and the next, and doubles the automatic suspension.
Yellow-card accumulation across matches is a separate ledger. Carry-over and wipe rules live in competition regulations, not Law 12. See whether yellow cards carry over.
Offences that trigger a send-off
Law 12 lists sending-off offences for a player, substitute, or substituted player. The list includes serious foul play, violent conduct, biting or spitting, using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or actions, receiving a second caution in the same match, denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by a deliberate handball (except a goalkeeper inside their own penalty area), and other DOGSO cases set out on the Law 12 page.
DOGSO inside the offender’s penalty area is not automatic dismissal when the referee awards a penalty. The offender is cautioned when the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball. Holding, pulling, pushing, or no possibility to play the ball is a send-off. Deliberate handball that denies a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is a send-off wherever it occurs, except a goalkeeper within their penalty area.
Two cautions in the same match equal a sending-off. That second yellow is a match-day event. How many cautions it takes across a season is a competition question. Pair this with how many yellows equal a red.
FAQ
Can a player be replaced after a red card?
No, not after kick-off. Law 3 says a player sent off after the kick-off cannot be replaced. A player sent off after being named on the team list and before kick-off may be replaced by a named substitute, who then cannot be replaced.
How many games do you miss for a red card?
The Laws do not set a number. Open the competition’s disciplinary code. MLS, for example, runs an Independent Review Panel that can rescind a send-off or, on a frivolous appeal, double the automatic suspension.
What happens if a goalkeeper gets a red card?
The goalkeeper leaves. Play does not restart until the team has a goalkeeper: a substitute keeper, or an outfield player already on the field when no substitutes remain.
Does a red card carry over to the next game?
The sending-off itself is this match. Any later ban is a competition sanction. Straight reds and double yellows can be treated differently by the same league. Read that league’s code, not a generic chart.
CTA: Stay in the cards silo — start at the rules category, then the send-off guide, then this after-card page.
Sources
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