It’s no great secret that things can get a bit rough in South America – but 51 red cards in a single match certainly eclipses anything seen before.
Normally, the second tier of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship doesn’t attract much attention – but this time, it’s a completely different story. In the match between Mamoré and Uberlândia, the world record for red cards wasn’t just broken – it was absolutely smashed.
What happened? After Davi Fernandes Bittencourt had scored in the 54th minute to make it 3–1 for the visitors from Uberlândia, he went overboard with his celebrations and provoked the opposition bench. It is reported that he was then shoved by the opposing goalkeeping coach, before the situation escalated completely.
The incident subsequently turned into a mass brawl, in which even ball boys were involved and chairs were thrown. Referee Fernando Patrick Drosghic Modesto showed red cards to a total of 43 players and eight members of the coaching staff, and subsequently abandoned the match – it was no longer possible to see the game through to a normal conclusion anyway.
New world record
The next step was to assess the damage – and there was certainly plenty to note, as the military police who had been called in found extensive damage to the stadium’s facilities.
The match thus went down in history as the game with the most red cards. The previous record of 36 red cards, as recorded by Guinness World Records, was surpassed by a huge margin.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the previous world record for the most red cards had stood since 2011 – and that too was set in South America, though not in Brazil but in Argentina. Fifteen years ago, too, a mass brawl had broken out in the clash between the Argentine fifth-tier sides Atlético Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.