'Mistaken identity' forces Switzerland to see red: Inside the World Cup's most controversial card

So why was that decision reversed?

Blame FIFA’s brand-new “Mistaken Identity” rule. It’s a mechanism by which video-assisted review (VAR) refereeing officials can encourage on-field referees to re-litigate card-generating plays. It can be used to ensure that cards go to the correct offenders—think big scrums in the penalty box where it’s not immediately clear which player commits a foul—but it can also be used in cases of diving.

That’s what happened here. The VAR officials in this match re-watched the incident and realized that Argentina midfielder Paredes hadn’t touched Embolo during the play. Embolo’s move was a dive—or a “simulation”, to use official refereeing parlance—and Paredes’s card was unfair.

Sure, but why did that result in a direct yellow for Embolo?

Players can receive yellow cards for simulation, but it’s not a common occurrence. (We’ve only seen a handful thus far in the World Cup.) But in cases of mistaken identity like this one, if a yellow card has already been issued to one player, than the resolution of the review will see the yellow card assigned to the opposing player instead. There was no way for the referee to remove Paredes’s card without carding Embolo, too; it’s a quirk of the law itself.

That feels awfully unfair for Embolo

A little, sure, but it’s worth remembering that he was on a yellow card already and shouldn’t have been messing around with simulation to begin with. It’s true that most players wouldn’t be carded for a dive like his—and it’s doubly true that they wouldn’t receive a second yellow for it—but at the end of the day, Embolo committed a genuine card-worthy move here. He cannot complain about the result.

So this isn’t another case of VAR-gentina getting away with a refereeing call?

Nope. Argentina received plenty of heat for getting some questionable calls in its favor during its victory over Egypt in the Round of 16, but this was different. Switzerland made the error and Switzerland deserved the punishment. You can quibble with the mechanics of the rule forcing a yellow card—and many will in the coming days, especially if they are Swiss—but you can’t argue with the call itself.

Argentina will continue its World Cup on Wednesday, July 15 when it takes on England in Atlanta, GA.