Five Red Cards in a Week. The 2026 World Cup Is Already More Chaotic Than the Last Two Combined.

We’re not even through the first round of group games at the 2026 World Cup, and referees have already pulled out five red cards. That’s more than the entire tournaments in Qatar 2022 and Russia 2018 managed in total.

Thursday’s action in Group B added two more to the count. Bosnia’s center-back Tarik Muharemović got his marching orders for a reckless challenge. Later, Qatar’s Homam Ahmed followed him off the pitch for a second yellow. Both teams played a man down for significant stretches.

The tournament opened with a bang — three red cards in the Mexico vs. South Africa match alone. That felt like a statement. Turns out it was a trend.

How This Compares to Recent World Cups

For context: Qatar 2022 had four red cards across the entire tournament. Russia 2018 had four, too. We’ve blown past both in less than a week. The 2014 tournament in Brazil finished with ten. South Africa 2010 had a staggering 17 — which felt like an outlier at the time — and the all-time high remains 28 from Germany 2006.

We’re on pace to challenge that record. (But pace in World Cup math is a little silly when you’re talking about a month-long tournament with only 48 teams now. Still, the volume is notable.)

Fans online have already started calling this the “Card Cup.” Some have wondered if the expanded group stage — which added more games and more physical mismatches — is partly to blame. The tournament introduced 12 groups of four teams, up from 8 groups in 2022, meaning more minutes and more opportunities for cards to pile up.

FIFA has not publicly commented on the trend, but the match officials in the center of these games have been aggressive early. The message seems clear: slide tackles and reckless play won’t get a pass just because it’s the World Cup.

It might also matter that the host nation (the US, Mexico, and Canada this time around) brought in a bunch of newer referees from leagues that officiate differently. Some of these calls would have been let go in previous editions. But that’s just speculation for now.

Bosnia and Qatar both now face uphill battles to stay in the tournament, especially with key defenders suspended for upcoming matches. For Qatar, it’s a familiar kind of frustration — they’ve struggled to keep 11 men on the field at major tournaments.

One thing’s for sure: nobody predicted the 2026 World Cup would make history for the wrong reasons this quickly. And the tournament’s not even halfway through the group stage yet.