Lauren James has been a star of England’s World Cup 2023 campaign so far but her stock fell sharply after her red card against Nigeria.
The Lionesses defeated the Super Falcons on penalties after the Chelsea attacker was shown a straight red for a stamp on Michelle Alozie.
It means Sarina Wiegman’s side will move on to the quarter-finals on Saturday where they will play Colombia.
James has been a key player for England, scoring the winner against Denmark in a group game and then a brace against China as part of a 6-0 victory.
But will Lauren James be returning to the starting line-up in Australia and New Zealand?
What are the rules around yellow cards at the Women’s World Cup 2023?
A player misses the following game if she is shown a yellow card twice in successive matches up until the completion of the quarter-final stage.
However, at this point they are wiped - meaning a player could be booked in the quarters and semis but still play in the final.
Argentina’s Miriam Mayorga, South Africa’s Kholosa Biyana, the US’s Rose Lavelle, Colombia’s Manuela Vanegas, and the Netherlands’ Daniëlle van de Donk have so far all missed games for this reason.
What are the rules around red cards at the Women’s World Cup 2023?
Receiving a red card will see a player automatically miss the next game.
However, a serious offence can see a player then miss further games - although that is at the discretion of Fifa’s technical committee.
Already at this summer’s tournament, Deborah Abiodun was shown a red card against Canada on match day one and this ruled her out for three games. That was for a late tackle.
Other red cards have so far only resulted in one-match suspensions.
Will Lauren James play again for England at the tournament?
James will definitely miss the quarter-final. A two-game ban would see her miss the semi but three would put her out of action for the final as well.
Teammate Beth England is hopeful James’ punishment will not see her ruled out for the rest of the tournament.
"We all know Lauren is magic, she is our weapon and it’s a big loss for us but we can’t change that now," she told Radio 5 Live.
"We have an unbelievable squad and players who can fill in that position and hopefully we can see her again in the tournament."
It remains to be seen what is decided by Fifa.
Has an England player been sent off in a World Cup match before?
Yes, there are several unfortunate examples on the men’s side.
Wayne Rooney was shown red against Portugal in 2006 and 20 years earlier, Ray Wilkins was sent off against Morocco.
The most famous England World Cup red card, however, was David Beckham’s against Argentina in 1998 when the midfielder kicked out at Diego Simeone.
