The New England Revolution may have thought for a second that they’d be getting the ultimate break: They’d get to play Inter Miami without Lionel Messi available, due to suspension.
But that suspension for Messi won’t actually come into play thanks to a little-known MLS rule about “good behavior” as it pertains to yellow-card accumulation.
There’s plenty to know here, so let’s break it down.
MLS Yellow Card Accumulation for Lionel Messi
Inter Miami was hosting FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night, and in the 42nd minute, Messi was given a yellow card.
He had been attacking toward goal and attempted a shot that was blocked, and in the rush to try and get the ball, Messi had apparently made contact with Cincinnati defender Samuel Gidi, who went down.
Messi was given a yellow card.
Plenty of fans weren’t happy about it.
It was Messi’s fifth yellow card of the season. Usually, that’s the amount of yellows it takes for a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Each soccer league has a quota for yellow cards that results in a suspension. While you could go an entire season without a red card, a league still prefers its players not to be booked too often. That’s why yellow card accumulation exists.
In MLS, it’s for five yellows — so after the fifth, the player is then required to sit out a match.
That won’t be the case for Messi.
🟨 Leo Messi recieved his 5th yellow card of the season last night, but he is NOT suspended for #InterMiamiCF’s next game vs New England Revolution.
MLS has a ‘Good Behavior’ rule that reduces yellow card accumulation when a player appears in 5 games without a caution. #Messi https://t.co/bl7VQJe8DB
— Franco Panizo (@FrancoPanizo) October 29, 2026
How MLS ‘Good Behavior’ Rule Works for Lionel Messi
MLS spells out what it calls the “Good Behavior Incentive” in its rulebook.
It reads like this:
“A player will automatically reduce his yellow card accumulation total by one yellow card each time he appears in five consecutive matches without receiving a yellow card, red card or supplemental discipline in such matches. For clarity, a player cannot have a negative yellow card accumulation total; the Good Behavior Incentive can only reset to a zero-card total. This incentive will be automatically applied a maximum of three times throughout the course of the MLS Regular Season.”
So while Messi has five yellow cards, he has also gone a five-match stretch without receiving a yellow.
Messi has actually gone three separate five-match stretches this season without a yellow, which would suggest his acting total toward accumulation is now only two yellow cards.
He did start the season with more than five matches without a booking, but a player can’t go negative in the adjusted accumulation total, according to the rules.
So Messi picked up two yellow cards, then went five matches without one to reduce it to one, then got one — back to two — then went 10 matches without one, essentially reducing to zero. He’s gotten a yellow in two of his last three matches to go up to two.
This isn’t just a Messi rule, by any means, but it certainly helps Messi and Miami out here. And it hurts the Revs, who take on Miami in a match between the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed New England (58 points) and No. 3 seed Miami (56 points).
Lionel Messi Suspension Canceled By MLS ‘Good Behavior’ Rule