A total of 12 red cards have been shown so far at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the latest going to United States forward Folarin Balogun.
You could say there might have been even fewer red cards at this World Cup if there were no Brazilian referees. After all, Brazilian referees have shown the most red cards in the tournament.
In the United States-Bosnia and Herzegovina match, Brazilian referee Rafael Claus sent off Balogun for a dangerous tackle. Besides that red card, Brazilian referees have shown three more red cards at the World Cup.
Along with Claus, Wilton Sampaio has also issued red cards. After Brazil, Chilean referees have shown two red cards. Referees from Argentina, El Salvador, Slovenia, the United States and Portugal have each shown one red card.
Now you may ask, where does this World Cup stand in terms of red cards? Here's an interesting fact: this tournament has already produced four more red cards than the previous two World Cups combined.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar each saw four red cards. This World Cup has already seen 12 red cards.
However, the World Cup with the most red cards remains the 2006 tournament in Germany. A total of 28 red cards were shown in that edition alone.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France produced 22 red cards. The 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, each saw 17 red cards.