Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao was sent off in extraordinary circumstances during Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League win over Norway on Sunday, receiving two yellow cards in the space of 10 seconds in the 86th minute.
Conceicao had started the match in Porto as Portugal made it four victories from four at the beginning of their 2026-27 Nations League campaign. He was due to be replaced in the closing stages, with Pedro Neto and Bernardo Silva waiting on the touchline to come on.
The planned substitution was interrupted when Conceicao went down inside the penalty area after a challenge from Genoa centre-back Leo Ostigard. The Portugal forward remained on the ground holding the back of his leg, but was booked by Italian referee Maurizio Mariani after protesting the decision.
Almost immediately afterwards, Conceicao was shown a second yellow card. As he moved towards the byline, where he was expected to leave the field to make way for Neto, he raised a sarcastic thumbs-up gesture towards Mariani.
That resulted in his dismissal before the substitution could be completed. Neto was forced to return to the bench, while Conceicao took his place there for the remainder of the match.
The Juventus winger will now miss Portugal’s next Nations League fixture because of suspension. Roberto Martinez’s side are due to host Denmark on November 14.
The incident came at the end of a match Portugal won 2-1, maintaining their perfect record after four games in the opening phase of the 2026-27 Nations League campaign.
Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.
