Three red cards in the World Cup’s opening game – why were the players sent off?

South Africa’s campaign at the World Cup 2026 got off to the worst possible start as they were beaten by co-hosts Mexico and ended the match with nine men following two straight red cards.

>Both came in the second half with Bafana Bafana already losing 1-0 thanks to Julian Quinones’ goal in the eight minute of the game. Sphephelo ‘Yaya’ Sithole was the first player to be dismissed after catching Brian Gutierrez on the edge of the South African penalty area and denying a goal scoring opportunity.

>That decision was a clear one but the second red card, which came in the 84th minute, was more controversial.

>As Mexico looked to work their way into the box from the left wing, South Africa’s Themba Zwane got into a grappling contest with Roberto Alvarado. Zwane came round the back of the Mexican and forced his left arm into the face of Alvarado who went to ground clutching his head.

>Referee Wilton Sampaio was called over to the pitchside monitor by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and asked to look at replays of the incident.

South Africa's Sphephelo Sithole is sent off after denying a goalscoring opportunity (Reuters)He saw a slap from Zwane, which became clearer from the referee’s body cam footage later, and decided that the South African deserved a red card for violent conduct.

>This was the first time a team had received two red cards in a World Cup match since Portugal and Netherlands both had two players dismissed against each other in the 2006 round of 16.

>“I think the decision is extremely harsh,” claimed Ally McCoist on ITV’s coverage of the game with the commentator describing Zwane’s movement as natural from the position he was in.

>In the US coverage of the game, former USMNT star Landon Donovan had a similar outlook and said: "That's a harsh red card, I can't see that being a red card."

Themba Zwane was the second player to be sent off in the World Cup opener (Reuters)However, that wasn’t the final moment of controversy as Mexico found themselves reduced to 10-men in the dying stages of the match.

>Left-back Cesar Montes cynically stopped a darting run from Khuliso Mudau as he attempted to drive into the penalty area from the right. Montes stuck out a leg and brough Mudau to ground and was amazed as the referee pulled out a third straight red card of the game.

>ITV’s American rules analyst and VAR expert, Christina Unkel, explained that there wasn’t clear evidence for VAR to decide that the referee had made a mistake and, as such, Montes was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

>This was the seventh time there have been three or more red cards in a World Cup game and the first time in an opener.

>All three players, Sithole, Zwane and Montes will now miss their nation’s next match but Fifa holds the right to extend the ban or add any other sanctions to the ban if they deem necessary.

>That means that Sithole and Zwane will miss the next match against Czechia on June 18 and Montes will be unavailable for Mexico’s game against South Korea on June 19.