American national team player Tim Ream became the first player at the World Cup to benefit from the new rule, the so-called mistaken identity rule, which was introduced this year by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
The new rule allows judges to they use the video assistant referee (VAR) in order to overturned decisions on red and yellow cards assigned to the wrong player. The rule is intended to help when the referee has an obscured view of the action.
In today’s World Cup game between the United States and Paraguay, which the Americans won 4-1, the rule favored American Ream.
Dutch judge Danny Makkelie at first he showed the American defender a yellow card due to a violation over Miguel Almiron in a game in Los Angeles.
After calling the VAR and reviewing the footage, he changed his mind and showed the Paraguayan a yellow card because of the simulation.
Durante el Estados Unidos–Paraguay del Mundial 2026 (Group D) se una de las primeras aplicaciones de la versión ampliada del protocolo de “identidad equivocada” del VAR. The referee Danny Makkelie had shown a yellow card to the defender of the United States Tim Ream por una supuesta…
— ADNChampions (@ADNChampions) June 13, 2026
Ream, who at 38 became the oldest American to play in the World Cup, will be able to continue the group stage of the World Cup more relaxed, and if he had received a yellow card, he would have been just one more away from a one-game suspension.
(Hina | Photo: Screenshot)
