Brazilian Referee Goes Viral After Three Red Cards in World Cup Opener

Wilton Sampaio of Brazil became the unexpected star of the 2026 World Cup opening match at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, where Mexico beat South Africa 2-0. The game had its share of ceremony, goals, drama and even tears from Raul Jimenez, but Sampaio drew the biggest attention online.

Sampaio made history, though not in a flattering way, by issuing three straight red cards, the first time that has ever happened in a World Cup opening match. He sent off South Africa’s Sphamlo Sithole and Themba Zwane, and Mexico captain Cesar Montes. For comparison, the entire 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw only four red cards in total.

The match with the most red cards in World Cup history remains the 2006 Portugal-Netherlands clash, known as the “Battle of Nuremberg,” which featured four reds and 16 yellows. Sampaio’s three dismissals put him second on that all-time list after just 90 minutes.

The online buzz started even before the cards. Sampaio stepped onto the pitch wearing a large, elaborate headset for communication with the refereeing team and VAR, prompting memes on X that compared him to “Robocop” or to a gamer who had forgotten to take off Xbox headphones. The biggest viral moment came in the 84th minute, when he went to the VAR screen to review an off-the-ball foul by Zwane, then explained the decision to the players in broken English. One user joked, “In the new era of refereeing, the referee’s English is also part of the show.”