So, I was watching a game the other weekend, and things got pretty heated. A couple of yellows, then a straight red. Got me thinking, you know? What’s the absolute craziest number of red cards ever dished out in one single football match?
My first thought was, maybe five or six? I remember seeing matches where teams ended up with like, nine players. Seemed like a lot back then. But I had this nagging feeling the real record had to be way wilder. You know how these things go, someone somewhere must have totally lost it.
So, I started digging around a bit. Just typing stuff into the search bar, like “most reds football match ever”. Loads of stuff popped up, naturally. Some articles talked about famous send-offs, like big-name players getting marched off. Found a bit comparing Ronaldo’s reds to Messi’s – apparently, CR7 has way more, which was kinda surprising, or maybe not, depending on how you see him play.
Then I saw stuff about rules, like how a team forfeits if they get five red cards because they can’t keep the minimum number of players (which is seven, apparently) on the pitch. Okay, interesting, but still not the record.
Finding the Madness
Kept scrolling, and then I hit this story. Argentina. Lower league game, somewhere called Claypole. The year was 2011. I had to read it twice because it just sounded nuts.
Get this: 36 red cards. Yeah, thirty-six! In ONE game.
How does that even happen? Apparently, a massive brawl kicked off. Not just the players on the pitch, but subs, coaches, everyone piled in. The ref, this guy Damián Rubino, just decided to send off literally everyone involved. All 22 players, plus another 14 people from the benches and technical staff. Madness.
- Players on the field
- Substitutes
- Coaching staff
Everyone got the boot. Can you even imagine the paperwork for that? I also stumbled across something about ‘blue cards’ for temporary suspensions, like a sin bin in rugby or ice hockey, used in some levels of football. Never seen one myself, but it’s out there. Doesn’t seem like they used blue cards in that Argentinian match, just straight reds for everyone!
Anyway, finding that 36 red card record was pretty wild. Makes those Premier League games with two or three reds look like a walk in the park. Just goes to show, football can get seriously out of hand sometimes.
