There have been 189 total red card incidents involving players in World Cup history.
Some ejections were via straight red cards, others were due to a player picking up a second yellow card. Many were earned, many were deserved, some were controversial, some were consequential to a player’s team.
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Peru’s Plácido Galindo was the first to be sent off in 1930. Folarin Balogun of the United States men’s national team is the latest player to receive a red card in a World Cup match.
Here’s a look at some of the most notable red card incidents in the 96 years of World Cup play.
Galindo earned an ejection, but Carlos Caszely actually saw red
When Galindo was sent off for Peru during in 1930, the actual use of cards was not part of officiating protocol. Following several fights in a match against Romania, Galindo was asked by referee Alberto Warnken to leave the field.
Actual red and yellow cards were put into use in 1970, but a physical red card was not issued until 1974 when Caszely saw one raised by referee Doğan Babacan. The Chilean forward had just delivered a tackle on West Germany’s Berti Vogts in retaliation for taking the ball off of him.
José Batista wastes no time getting sent off in 1986
It took very little time at all for Batista to end up in the history books — 56 seconds, to be exact.
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At the 1986 World Cup, the Uruguayan defender was sent off with a straight red card in the first minute of a group stage game against Scotland. The red came as a result of a dangerous tackle on Scotland midfielder Gordon Strachan, with the referee taking little time before showing Batista the card.
Despite being down a player for nearly the entire game, Uruguay held strong, finishing with a 0-0 draw. Uruguay’s two draws ended up being enough for the team to advance to the knockout round after finishing third in the standings, while Scotland did not advance.
Batista’s 56-second red card still stands as a World Cup record.
Gianluca Pagliuca becomes the first goalkeeper to earn a red card at a World Cup
Pagliuca made his own kind of history in 1994, becoming the first player in his position to get a red card during a World Cup game. In Italy’s second group stage game, against Norway, Pagliuca ran out of the box to make a save and touched the ball with his hands, promptly getting sent off for the offense.
Italy, however, managed to overcome the man disadvantage to score in the 69th minute and win the game. That group, Group E, ended with all four teams getting four points, leading to a series of tiebreakers that left Norway in last place due to goal differential. Italy advanced out of third place in the group after the unprecedented finish.
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In total, only three goalkeepers have been sent off from the World Cup. In 2010, South Africa keeper Itumeleng Khune joined the list after he clipped the feet of Uruguay’s Luis Suárez in the box; in 2022, Wales’ Wayne Hennessey became the third goalie to get sent off after a dangerous high-leg collision with Iran’s Mehdi Taremi outside the box.
Yellow cards aplenty during the “Battle of Nuremberg”
No World Cup match had seen more red cards than the Round of 16 meeting between the Netherlands and Portugal in 2006.
Russian referee Valentin Ivanov was busy during the 1-0 win by Cristiano Ronaldo’s side. A record 16 yellow cards and four red cards were handed out with Mark van Bommel picking up the first caution in the second minute of the match. Five minutes later, Khalid Boulahrouz earned the first of two yellow cards for a tackle that injured Ronaldo and eventually led to his substitution in the 34th minute.
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Five yellow cards were handed out in the opening 45 minutes and Portugal’s Costinha earned his second yellow card one minute into first-half stoppage time and was sent off.
Ivanov would not officiate another match in the tournament after being criticized by then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
In 2022, the Netherlands were again involved in a fiery match dubbed the “Battle of Lusail” as they combined for 18 yellow cards in a quarterfinal against Argentina. Only one red card was handed out and came after the penalty shootout, which went Argentina’s way, to Denzel Dumfries for unsporting behavior.
Luis Suárez plays goalie for a brief moment
Uruguay and Ghana were heading to penalties in 2010 when Suárez handed the Black Stars a potential lifeline. With the score tied 1-1 and the match entering the final moments of stoppage time in the second period of extra time, a frenetic scramble in front of the Uruguay net saw Dominic Adiyiah’s header cleared off the goal line by Suárez … with his hands.
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Ghana was given a penalty and Suárez saw red. But Ghana did not capitalize on the opportunity as Asamoah Gyan’s attempt hit the cross bar.
Uruguay would win the penalty shootout 4-2 and advance to the semifinals where they fell to eventual tournament runners-up Netherlands.
Graham Poll and the third yellow card
Two yellow cards equals a red card and a sending off. Simple as that. That rule definition slipped the mind of English referee Graham Poll during a 2006 match between Australia and Croatia.
In the 66th minute with Croatia holding a 2-1 lead, Josip Šimunić was issued a yellow card for fouling Australia winger Harry Kewell. Thirteen minutes later, Kewell would tie the game at two.
Referee Graham Poll sends off Croatia’s Josip Simunic (Croatia) for a second bookable offence.
(Nick Potts – PA Images via Getty Images)
As Croatia fought for a winning goal, Šimunić was called for a foul in the 90th minute and Poll issued him a second yellow card. The problem was that Poll had written the wrong name down for Šimunić’s second caution, thereby forgetting a sending-off was in order.
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An ejection would finally come for Šimunić after the final whistle had blown. The Croatian center back was given a third yellow card by Poll for dissent. Of course, according to Poll’s own records it was a second caution, which meant Šimunić would finally earn a red card.
The end of Zidane
It was deep in extra time in the 2006 final between France and Italy with the two teams locked in a 1-1 draw. In the 110th minute, Zinedine Zidane turned around and head-butted Italian center back Marco Materazzi square in the chest.
Zidane and Materazzi had been locked all game long in the center of the field, and were both central to the game’s outcome. Zidane had scored first for France early on sinking a cheeky penalty kick in the seventh minute, while Materazzi, a notoriously aggressive player, had scored the equalizing goal with his head 12 minutes later.
The two were jawing shortly before Zidane wound up for the head-butt. And with Materazzi on the ground, Zidane was shown a straight red card and sent off, leaving his team with 10 men for the rest of the game. Italy went on to win 5-3 in penalty kicks, earning its fourth World Cup title.
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The fateful decision would prove to be Zidane’s last in professional soccer. Ahead of the 2005-06 season, Zidane had already announced that he would be retiring at the end of the year. And after the World Cup, Zidane confirmed that the shootout loss would be his final game.
(Stu Forster via Getty Images)
Miguel Almirón becomes a trivia answer under new FIFA rule
When Almirón and Türkiye’s Mert Mulder got into a confrontation following a foul during their 2026 group-stage match, the Paraguayan midfielder covered his mouth to say something to Mulder. That was quickly noticed by referee Iván Barton, who then issued Almirón a red card under a months-old FIFA rule.
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The new FIFA law was inspired by the Champions League controversy when Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him. Prestianni’s mouth was covered when he said something to the Brazil star, which Prestianni reportedly later alleged was not racist, but an anti-gay slur.
Prestianni was later given a six-match ban, with the suspension extended to cover the World Cup.
Beginning with the 2026 World Cup, any player who covers their mouths to say something to an opponent during a confrontation will receive a red card.
Folarin Balogun’s red card not subject to appeal
Balogun scored the USMNT’s opening goal during its 2-0 Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was gone from the game 21 minutes later.
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“If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card [for a second yellow card], they will automatically be suspended from their team’s subsequent match,” according to the FIFA rule book. Rule 10.5 states that further penalties can be added, with the five-game suspension of Qatar’s Assim Madibo for breaking the leg of Canada’s Ismaël Koné as an example.
Multiple outlets have reported that there is no pathway to an appeal for the U.S., as per FIFA’s rules, and Balogun will miss Monday’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.