Who has the worst disciplinary record in FIFA World Cup history?
Throughout the history of the FIFA World Cup, red cards have played a prominent and dramatic role in the outcome and story of tournaments. From David Beckham’s petulant flick of his leg in 1998 to Zinedine Zidane’s remarkable head-butt in the 2006 final, there have been many defining moments.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Spain won their third FIFA Fair Play award in just four tournaments. They were joint-winners with Brazil in 2006 and were the so-called ‘fairest’ side at both the 2010 and 2018 events.
With the World Cup in Qatar inching ever closer, this is a look at the countries that have worst disciplinary records in the 21 previous tournaments.
As the graph shows, Germany have picked up the most cards in the history of the FIFA World Cup but they are actually far from the team to have collected the most straight reds.
Surprisingly, the Brazilians have collected the most straight red cards with ten in total. They are one ahead of their South American rivals, Argentina and third on the list is Uruguay, with eight. The three CONMEBOL giants taking the Copa Libertadores stereotype of fierce footballing rivalries and matches onto the international stage.
