Messi bleeds through a Xhaka collision as VAR's card swap trick returns

Sunday had no matches, just the quarterfinal week arguing with itself. Argentina’s win over Switzerland produced a bloodied Messi and a video review that swapped a red card from one player to another, and both were still the story a day later with nothing else to talk about.

A cut above the eye, business as usual

An accidental collision with Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka left Messi with a gash above his right eye during Saturday’s extra-time win. Physios patched him up in a hydration break, he played the full 120 minutes anyway, and Argentina are expected to have him fit for Wednesday’s semifinal against England. Forty years old, took an elbow to the face, kept playing. Nothing new there.

VAR pulls the same trick twice

The bigger argument was about the officiating. Referee Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro initially booked Leandro Paredes for a challenge on Embolo, then VAR intervened, ruled Embolo had dived, and moved the card: Paredes cleared, Embolo shown a second yellow and sent off. It is the second time this tournament a review has lifted a card off one player and handed it to another. The first was the USA’s group game against Paraguay on June 12, when Tim Ream’s yellow got reassigned to Miguel Almirón for simulation. FIFA calls it the “mistaken identity” protocol, new for this tournament, though BBC Sport has already reported officials misapplied it once, in that same USA game. Two uses, one acknowledged mistake. Track record’s off to a shaky start.

Next up: France vs. Spain, Tuesday, semifinal number one.

No games to watch, but plenty on the live table while you wait for Tuesday.

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