Russia 2018: Neymar, Pogba may miss semi final

The likes of Paul Pogba, Philippe Coutinho, Neymar etc could miss the semi-final clash if their team advanced to the next stage as they are one card away from been given the compulsory rest.

The yellow cards will be wiped off after the quarterfinals, so it means that any player shown a second yellow card in the quarterfinals will be ruled out of the semifinal match.

Les Bleus have two players on that are one card away from missing the next round aside from Pogba,  Benjamin Pavard and striker Olivier Giroud, while only Rodrigo Bentancur is the only player on the line for Uruguay.

Brazil or Belgium could be without their star players depending on who advanced in both teams. For Brazil Neymar and Coutinho risk missing the semifinals and for Belgium Kevin De Bruyne, Thomas Meunier and Jan Vertonghen among their five players on a booking.

England has four players that might miss also if they advanced as the likes of Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard and Kyle Walker are on the list.

For Sweden, Viktor Claesson and Albin Ekdal could be forced out of a potential semifinal.

It’s the fourth quarterfinal that has by far the most jeopardy, with eight players from Croatia and five from Russia already having one caution to their names.

Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic, Ante Rebic and Sime Vrsaljko would each be a serious loss or Croatia, while Russia would sweat over the availability of Aleksandr Golovin and Ilya Kutepov.

Any player sent off would also be ruled out of the next fixture.

Selecao will be without their midfield enforcer Casemiro against Belgium due to suspension.