A look back at the number of "red cards" issued in the world's biggest football event, the "World Cup," broken down by each past tournament.
On 12 Jun 2026 GMT+7, we review the number of "red cards" in the world's greatest football event, the "World Cup," by each tournament held so far. Notably, the 2006 tournament hosted by Germany saw a total of 28 red cards—nearly 30—across all 64 matches.
That tournament featured one of the most iconic red cards ever: Zinedine Zidane was sent off in extra time, the 110th minute of the final between France and Italy, after headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest. The incident went viral at the time. Here is a recap of how many red cards were shown in each World Cup.
1930: 1 red card
1934: 3 red cards
1938: 5 red cards
1950: 0 red cards
1954: 3 red cards
1958: 1 red card
1962: 9 red cards
1966: 5 red cards
1970: 0 red cards
1974: 3 red cards
1978: 5 red cards
1982: 5 red cards
1986: 8 red cards
1990: 16 red cards
1994: 15 red cards
1998: 22 red cards
2002: 17 red cards
2006: 28 red cards
2010: 7 red cards
2014: 10 red cards
2018: 4 red cards
2022: 4 red cards
2026: 3 red cards