News Focus
- Three red cards appear during Mexico’s 2-0 win against South Africa in the World Cup opener
- Referee Wilton Sampaio dismisses two South African players and one Mexican
- Incident marks the first triple dismissal in a World Cup match since 2006
- FIFA’s referee chief Pierluigi Collina faces scrutiny over disciplinary standards
- Analysts suggest the match may be an exception rather than a new strict trend
Football fans watched in surprise as the 2026 World Cup began with an unusual amount of discipline. The opening match between Mexico and South Africa ended with three players leaving the pitch early. This has not happened in the tournament for 20 years.
The previous two World Cups in Russia and Qatar were very different. Each of those tournaments only saw four red cards in total. Now, the 2026 competition has almost reached that number after just one game.
The last time three players left the pitch in one World Cup match was in 2006. That year saw 28 dismissals in total, including a famous match between Portugal and the Netherlands with four red cards.
Many people are asking if we will see similar levels of discipline again. The answer may lie with Pierluigi Collina. The Italian became FIFA’s head of referees in 2017. He believes red cards should only appear when players truly deserve them.
Under Collina’s guidance, the rules about denying goal-scoring chances have become softer. It is now harder to receive a red card for professional fouls. This explains why the 2018 and 2022 tournaments had so few dismissals.
However, Thursday’s match in Mexico City showed a different picture. Wilton Sampaio, the referee from Brazil, showed three red cards. Let us look at each decision.
First, South Africa’s Yaya Sithole fouled Mexico’s Brian Gutierrez. The Mexican player was running towards the goal with a clear chance to score. Sithole stopped him illegally. This was a clear case of denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. The red card was correct.
The second dismissal caused more debate. Themba Zwane received a red card for violent conduct after a VAR review. Television pictures showed Zwane and Mexico’s Roberto Alvarado fighting off the ball. Alvarado fell down holding his head.
The video assistant referee, Nicolas Gallo from Colombia, asked Sampaio to check the screen. The pictures were not completely clear. Zwane seemed to touch Alvarado’s head with an open hand, not a closed fist. FIFA guidelines mention that a closed fist shows aggression. Many experts feel this decision was too harsh.
Perhaps this fits Collina’s other focus areas. He wants to stop poor player behaviour. This includes players covering their mouths when shouting, leaving the pitch in anger, or blocking opponents at set-pieces. Maybe Zwane’s action falls into this category of bad conduct.
The third red card went to Mexico’s Cesar Montes. He tackled South Africa’s Khuliso Mudau when the defender was running towards the penalty area. At first, this seemed too harsh because Mudau was slightly wide of the goal. However, there were no other defenders nearby. Mudau would have reached the ball and probably shot at goal.
A similar situation happened in the Premier League last season. Crystal Palace played against Bournemouth. Marcos Senesi fouled Ismaila Sarr in a comparable position. The referee gave a yellow card, but officials later agreed it should have been red. This suggests Sampaio made the right choice with Montes.
Collina spoke before the tournament about stopping time-wasting and bad behaviour. He did not promise a harsh crackdown on professional fouls. Therefore, we should not assume every match will see multiple red cards.
This game might simply be a rare event in a long tournament with 104 matches. The two dismissals for denying goal-scoring chances appear correct. The violent conduct decision remains questionable.
It is too early to panic about refereeing standards. We must wait for more matches before deciding if the rules have truly changed.