After the rash of red cards in the opening match when two South Africans and one Mexican was sent off in a frenetic second half, things have calmed down somewhat but there still have been eight in total up to Thursday 25th June which matches the number sent off in the last two World Cups combined. To find out more here’s my Guardian piece on the history of reds
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/world-cup-red-cards-history
In other news there have already been eleven own goals which is one shy of the record number which was reached in 2018 and with 44 games remaining the likelihood is that figure will be reached.
England’s goalless draw with Ghana was their 13th at World Cup finals and that is a record for a nation. All but one of those came in Group matches, the odd one out was the 2006 quarter-final against Portugal which culminated in a penalty shoot-out loss. All thirteen have come with different opponents as listed below
Algeria 2010, Brazil 1958, Bulgaria 1962, Costa Rica 2014, Ghana 2026, Morocco 1986, Netherlands 1990, Nigeria 2002, Portugal 2006, Spain 1982, Uruguay 1966, USA 2022, West Germany 1982
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