Rafael Leão sent off in Portugal - Chile: World Cup verdict (video) | OneFootball

Rafael Leão’s sending-off in the friendly between Portugal and Chile raised doubts about the forward’s availability for the National Team’s 2026 World Cup opener. However, everything indicates that Roberto Martínez will be able to count on the player developed at Sporting against Congo in the first match of the competition’s group stage.

According to FIFA regulations, sanctions applied in friendly matches are normally served in games of the same nature and do not automatically carry over to official competitions.

As such, the most likely scenario is that Rafael Leão will serve a one-match suspension in Portugal’s next friendly, against Nigeria, scheduled for Wednesday in Leiria. Only exceptional intervention by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee could alter that framework.

The FIFA Disciplinary Code provides that a sending-off results in at least a one-match suspension, although the punishment may be increased depending on the seriousness of the offence. Even so, there is a clear distinction between official and non-official matches, with punishments handed out in friendlies tending to be served in friendlies.

Therefore, unless FIFA makes a different decision after reviewing the referee’s report, Rafael Leão is expected to miss only the warm-up match against Nigeria and be available to feature among Roberto Martínez’s options for Portugal’s 2026 World Cup opener against Congo.

Watch the sending-off:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.