Breaking down the dirtiest World Cup opening game we’ve ever seen – or was it?
Was that the cleanest ‘dirty game’ the World Cup has ever produced?
The plain facts are these: referee Wilton Sampaio brandished three red cards as Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday. Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez scored either side of South Africa’s Sphephelo Sithole’s 49th-minute dismissal, as he became the first player in 32 years to be sent off in a World Cup curtain-raiser.
Sithole’s teammate Themba Zwane, who was a 61st-minute substitute, followed him to the dressing room 23 minutes after coming on. Zwane, 36, is the second oldest player to be sent off at the World Cup, behind the USA’s Fernando Clavijo (who was 38) against Brazil in 1994.
No opening game at a World Cup had ever seen three dismissals before (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Incredibly, there was still time for one more dismissal. Mexico captain Cesar Montes was given his marching orders in added time for a professional foul, making this the first ever World Cup opener to feature three red cards, surpassing the two handed in 1990 when Cameroon hung on with nine men to beat Argentina 1-0.
This was also the most dismissals in a World Cup game since Portugal’s infamous 1-0 quarterfinal win over the Netherlands in 2006, a match known as the ‘Battle of Nuremberg’ after 12 yellow and four red cards were handed out by Russian referee Valentin Ivanov.
As the chart below shows, Thursday’s World Cup 2026 opener contained more red cards than the 1978 tournament did in total, while the 2018 and 2022 World Cups had only four apiece. It took 57 matches in Qatar four years ago for three players to be dismissed.
What made Thursday’s procedures an even bigger surprise was that the game saw only 23 fouls. It was an encounter of clumsy challenges more than cynical ones.
Contrast that with Mexico and Paraguay’s 1-1 draw at the 1986 World Cup, a game that saw an incredible 78 fouls in just 42 minutes of ball-in-play time, a World Cup record.
Mexico’s current head coach Javier Aguirre started that game and in his nation’s subsequent quarterfinal defeat on penalties to Germany, he was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.
Now, Aguirre’s 2026 team will go down in disciplinary history too.
Is the record high of 28 red cards from the 2006 World Cup already under threat? (CARL DE SOUZA / AFP via Getty Images)
Breaking down the three red cards
Sithole’s dismissal is the easiest of the red cards to explain.
South Africa, chasing a goal, looked to step up to Mexico, who after a few passes could simply set up Brian Gutierrez to run into a massive gap between the centre-backs. The Mexico midfielder has a head start on Sithole, the player closest to him.
Gutierrez’s awareness and Sithole’s awkward attempt at tackling means their legs get tangled, sending the former to the ground just outside the box.
It was viewed as a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity (or DOGSO), making it an easy decision for referee Sampaio.
Zwane’s red card, though, was the opposite.
The veteran midfielder was involved in an off-the-ball scuffle with Mexico’s Roberto Alvarado in the 80th minute, which went unnoticed by the referee, with the move ending in a South African shot on target.
It took 90 more seconds before Sampaio began an ominous jog to the pitchside monitor after receiving guidance from Video Assistant Referee Nicolas Gallo. The replays on the screen showed Zwane initially holding onto Alvarado…
…before swiping Alvarado across the face with his hand.
That was deemed to be violent conduct, and Sampaio showed Zwane a red card three-and-a-half minutes after the original offence.
“The first red card, we have to accept it. The second we can discuss,” South Africa head coach Hugo Broos told media post-game. “The Mexican player blocked my player. I think it was a little bit soft.”
Montes’ red card, however, was the most debatable of them all.
Despite being down to nine men, South Africa found themselves in a promising situation on the break in the second minute of stoppage time, led by wing-back Khuliso Mudau bearing down Montes on the right wing.
Mudau pushes the ball past Montes, who attempts to tackle.
But the Mexico captain gets none of the ball and all of Mudau, who spirals onto the ground, prompting a third red card of the night.
The first of the two above images raised the most contention around Montes’ dismissal as Mudau seemed to be running away from goal. But Sampaio viewed it as a DOGSO, as he did with Sithole’s foul, and VAR stuck with the on-field call without the need to consult the pitchside monitor.
Basic mathematics tells us that maintaining a rate of three red cards a game will result in 312 red cards across the tournament.
Now of course, that won’t happen, but the tournament record of 28 red cards from 2006 is under severe threat with more than 100 games left to play in the 2026 World Cup.