World Cup 2018: Poor disciplinary record is the reason why Senegal are out, despite having same points and goals as Japan

Senegal have more yellow cards than Japan and that explains why they can’t progress from the group stage.

The Teranga Lions of Senegal are going out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup due to poor disciplinary record compared to Japan.

Colombia handed Japan a 1-0 defeat on Thursday to go top of group G, while Japan who also lost 1-0 against Poland skipped through to the round of 16 due to fewer yellow cards than the Africans.

Senegal and Japan, having four points apiece and conceding four goals, scoring four goals, the next tie breaker was head to head, yet both sides drew two all.

Hence, the next tie breaker was fair play: Yellow and red cards accumulated and Senegal having received six yellow cards fell down the pecking order compared to Japan who received four.

Below is the tie-breaking exercises

Points obtained in all group matches;

Goal difference in all group matches;

Number of goals scored in all group matches;

Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;

Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;

Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;

Fair play points in all group matches (only one of these deductions shall be applied to a player in a single match):

First yellow card: minus 1 point;

Indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points;

Direct red card: minus 4 points;

Yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points;

Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.