5 "fiery" matches in World Cup history

Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup, but the two goals weren't the most noteworthy statistics. The referee issued three red cards, making the start of the biggest football event on the planet an opportunity to look back at some of the most intense matches in World Cup history.

Three red cards on the opening day of the 2026 World Cup.

The opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, held at the Azteca Stadium, ended with a 2-0 victory for the co-hosts. Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored for Mexico. However, the most significant aspect of the match lay in the disciplinary decisions.

South Africa were reduced to nine men after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off. Mexico also lost center-back César Montes in injury time. This was the first time a World Cup opening match had seen three red cards.

The match between Mexico and South Africa this morning was incredibly tense. Photo: AP.

However, considering the entire history of the men's World Cup finals, the sight of three players being sent off is not unprecedented. Comparing the World Cup records of Encyclopaedia Britannica with FIFA's data, before the Mexico-South Africa match, there had been five matches with three red cards.

From Bordeaux to the "Battle of Berne"

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The first instance occurred at the 1938 World Cup, in the quarter-final match between Brazil and Czechoslovakia, which ended in a 1-1 draw. This encounter is remembered as the "Battle of Bordeaux." Zezé Procópio and Machado of Brazil, along with Jan Říha of Czechoslovakia, were sent off. The match was further marred by numerous serious injuries.

Sixteen years later, Brazil was involved in another tense match: a 2-4 defeat to Hungary in the quarter-finals of the 1954 World Cup. FIFA called this "The Battle of Berne".

Nílton Santos and József Bozsik were sent off after a scuffle; Humberto was later also dismissed for a brutal foul. According to FIFA.com, the fighting continued after the final whistle.

It should be noted that in the 1938 and 1954 matches, the correct term was "disqualification". FIFA stated that yellow and red cards were only officially introduced from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

Summer 2006 and the unbroken record.

The 1998 World Cup saw South Africa draw 1-1 with Denmark, with three players sent off. Notably, South Africa is also the team that received two red cards in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup.

At the 2006 World Cup, two other matches reached the three-red-card mark: Italy drew 1-1 with the USA and Australia drew 2-2 with Croatia. The Australia-Croatia match also went down in history because referee Graham Poll issued three yellow cards to Josip Šimunić before the Croatian player actually left the field.

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Portugal and the Netherlands together created the most fiery match in World Cup history.

However, the absolute record still belongs to Portugal's 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup. According to FIFA, the "Battle of Nuremberg" had four red cards and 16 yellow cards. After two decades, that remains the unbroken disciplinary record at the biggest football tournament in the world .

Source: https://danviet.vn/5-tran-cau-do-lua-trong-lich-su-world-cup-d1434341.html