2026 World Cup: 3 red cards in one match, Wilton Sampaio makes history

11.06.26 FT World Cup

Mexico

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South Africa

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Tasked with officiating the opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, Wilton Sampaio has made history.

The 44-year-old became the first Brazilian to referee a World Cup opener, and he brandished three red cards during the match: two for South Africa and one for Mexico.

In a lively contest, Sithole, Zwane, and Montes all headed for the locker room earlier than their teammates. This is, without a doubt, the highest number ever handed out in a World Cup opening match.

That's also nearly as many red cards as were shown throughout the entire Qatar 2022 World Cup: just 4 sendings-off in all 64 matches.

Wilton Sampaio also made his mark by becoming the first referee to hand out 3 straight red cards in a World Cup match since France 1998, when Denmark (2) faced South Africa (1).

Finally, they came close to breaking the all-time cards record, set in the infamous Portugal-Netherlands match with 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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