number of substitutions allowed in world cup football
Substitute (association football) Most competitions only allow each team to make a maximum of three substitutions during a game and a fourth substitute during extra time, although more substitutions are often permitted in non-competitive fixtures such as friendlies. A fourth substitution in extra time was first implemented in recent tournaments, including the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup final.[1][2][3][4][5] A fourth substitute in extra time has been approved for use in the elimination rounds at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.[6][7] Each team nominates a number of players (typically between five and seven, depending on the competition) who may be used as substitutes; these players typically sit in the technical area with the coaches, and are said to be "on the bench". When the substitute enters the field of play it is said they have come on or have been brought on, while the player they are substituting is coming off or being brought off.
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 remaining FIFA member associations were eligible to enter the qualifying process, and for the first time in World Cup history, all eligible national teams registered for the preliminary competition,[1] but Zimbabwe and Indonesia were disqualified before playing their first matches.[2][3] Bhutan, South Sudan, Gibraltar and Kosovo made their FIFA World Cup qualification debuts.[4][5][6][7][8] Myanmar, having successfully appealed against a ban from the competition for crowd trouble during a 2014 World Cup qualifying tie against Oman, were obliged to play all their home matches outside the country.[9]