Brazilian referee becomes the viral star of World Cup opener after three red cards

Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio stole the spotlight at the 2026 World Cup opening match in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, where Mexico beat South Africa 2-0. Despite the goals, drama and even tears from Raul Jimenez, it was Sampaio who became the main talking point online after showing three straight red cards, an unprecedented total for a World Cup opener.

Sampaio sent off South Africa’s Siphalo Sitole and Themba Zwane, and also dismissed Mexico captain Cesar Montes. The three red cards came in 90 minutes, nearly matching the four red cards issued across the entire 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The all-time World Cup red-card record remains the 2006 Portugal-Netherlands match in Nuremberg, known as the “Battle of Nuremberg,” which had four reds and 16 yellows.

The Brazilian was already attracting attention before the dismissals because he took the field wearing a large, advanced headset for communication with the officiating team and VAR. On X, users quickly turned him into a meme, comparing him to RoboCop or to an avid gamer who forgot to remove his Xbox headset.

The most viral moment came in the 84th minute, when Sampaio went to the VAR monitor to review an off-the-ball foul by Zwane and then explained the decision to the unhappy players in broken English. One user joked, “In the new era of refereeing, even the referee’s English is part of the show.”