🤯 Card chaos in World Cup opener: red-card flood rewrites history | OneFootball

The World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa may not have produced the highest-quality football, but it was definitely very entertaining. In the end, the hosts won 2-0.

What will be remembered even more than the result, however, is the wave of sendings-off handed out by referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio in the second half. 

The Brazilian sent off two South Africans, Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane, as well as Mexico’s Cesar Montes.

Unsurprisingly, three straight red cards in an opening match means a new World Cup record. What’s more, across the last two tournaments in 2018 and 2022, there were only four sendings-off in total. That mark is now under threat after just one match!

However, the all-time record for red cards in a World Cup match was not broken at the Azteca Stadium. That still belongs to the "Battle of Nuremberg." In 2006, an incredible four players were sent off in the round-of-16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands!

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 CARL DE SOUZA - AFP or licensors