WORLD CUP
2026

Before the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, football was played under rules that seem almost medieval compared to what we watch today. If a player was injured during a match, tough luck: no substitutes were allowed, and the injured player either limped through the rest of the game or their team played with ten men for as long as they had to. The 1970 tournament changed this forever when substitutes were permitted for the first time in World Cup history, each team being allowed to make two changes per game. It was a radical idea that coaches were not even sure how to use, and many were conservative with their replacements at first. The 1970 tournament also introduced the red and yellow card system that is now one of the most recognisable features of the game worldwide. Before 1970, referees would send off players verbally, and in different languages this sometimes caused confusion and arguments about whether a player had truly been dismissed. The card system, invented by English referee Ken Aston, gave a clear visual signal that crossed every language barrier. These two changes, substitutes and coloured cards, together transformed how the game was managed and protected players in a way that shaped every decade of football since.