We all love the beautiful game, whether it’s the mazy runs, the crunching tackles or the 30-yard screamers, there really is something for everyone in this sport.
Even the negative side to the game can provide us with great entertainment, as a red card at the right moment can turn a match on its head; it can even impact a title race or major tournament surge too.
While a dismissal can sometimes kill a game, it can just as often give it an exciting twist.
With that in mind, Football FanCast has created a list of the ten craziest red cards of all time.
10 Rivaldo's play-acting gets Hakan Unsal sent off
Brazil vs Turkey, 2002
Kicking things off, we have one of the most famous incidents of all time: Rivaldo’s supposed head injury at the 2002 World Cup.
The Selecao were playing Turkey in the group stage, and while they had far more talent in their team, they were struggling somewhat and ended up playing quite dull football, just trying to see out the game, which understandably frustrated the Turkish.
At one point, Rivaldo was taking an age to collect the ball for a corner, so in frustration, Hakan Unsal fired the ball at him.
Now, to be fair to the Brazilian, the ball did hit him quite hard in the legs, but instead of signalling this to the officials, he decided to drop to the floor like a dead weight, clinging to his face as if he had just been walloped.
The referee – who was already having a dreadful game – saw this, marched over to Unsal and gave him a straight red.
Was it a bookable offence? Probably, but a red for one of the worst examples of play-acting in football history has got to sting a little.
9 Edinson Cavani's threatening celebration
RC Lens vs Paris Saint-Germain, 2014
We’ve all seen players get a yellow card for taking their shirts off in celebration, and it’s not even that unusual to see a player sent off for that.
For example, Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar received a second yellow at the World Cup last year for his topless celebration after scoring against Brazil, but have you ever seen a player sent off for their signature celebration?
Well, back in 2014, when Edinson Cavani was tearing it up for Paris Saint-Germain, he got in trouble for his marksman celebration.
The Uruguayan scored a penalty against RC Lens to give his side a 3-1 lead and, in the aftermath, performed this celebration, but the referee wasn’t a fan.
Perhaps it was the mimicking of a gun that he deemed unacceptable, or maybe he thought it was too boastful; whatever it was, he gave the former Napoli striker a yellow card, and when he protested, he was given a second and given his marching orders.
We wonder what the referee would have made of Harvey Barnes’ archery celebration.
8 Running through walls
Riolo Terme vs Ponticelli, 2014
From the French top flight to Italian Sunday league, the level of football doesn’t matter; there is always the possibility of a bizarre red card.
That is precisely what happened in the game between Riolo Terme and Ponticelli when the latter’s keeper failed to deal with a cross which was gratefully tucked away by the former’s number nine.
Now, you’ve just scored a goal, how would you celebrate? Hugging your teammates? High-fives? How about thanking the crowd? No, all of that’s too predictable, too mundane for our hero.
Instead, the striker runs to the dugout and dives head-first through the cover over the bench.
The forward was, of course, sent off for this, but we just can’t work out what the thought process was here.
It has provided us with a hilarious video, though.
7 Esteban Alvarado sees red for defending himself
Ajax vs AZ Alkmaar, 2011
Dutch football has become infamous for its hooliganism issue, and while it seems to have gotten worse in recent years, it has been present for a long time.
In a tense cup game between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar in December 2011, AZ shot-stopper Esteban Alvarado was given a straight red card after kicking an Ajax fan who was clearly charging at him.
This decision understandably infuriated his teammates, so AZ’s manager called his players off the pitch and refused to play the game.
The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) later rescinded his card, although we reckon it was the very least they could do at that point.
6 Gabriel Martinelli gets two yellow cards in five seconds
Wolves vs Arsenal, 2022
A lot of the examples on this list are straight reds, but this one is technically a second yellow, although you’d have missed that had you blinked.
Arsenal travelled to Molineux for a Premier League game in February 2022 off the back of having a player sent off in three of their five matches so far that calendar year, so when Gabriel Martinelli made that four in the second half, fans must’ve thought they were cursed.
What makes the Brazilian’s sending-off so bizarre, though, is the fact that he was given two yellow cards in the space of a few seconds; the first for pushing Daniel Podence as he was taking a throw-in and the second for barging over Chiquinho as he collected the ball.
Both fouls were yellow cards, so we can understand Michael Oliver’s decision, but it was still a very strange string of events and not something we have seen since.
5 Josip Simunic handed three yellow cards
Croatia vs Australia, 2006
Okay, so Martinelli getting two yellow cards in the space of five seconds was pretty unusual, but have you ever seen a player receive three yellow cards in a game of football before?
There has, in fact, been at least one game of professional football in which a player has been shown three yellows before finally seeing red, and what makes it worse is that it was at the 2006 World Cup, no less.
The game was a group-stage match between Croatia and Australia, and while the Europeans were the clear favourites, the Aussies put up a good fight. The match was fairly physical, with defender Josip Simunic in particular really getting involved.
What makes the whole thing even funnier is that all three yellows came in the second half, and his second yellow card almost warrants a straight red on its own for being so rough.
Graham Poll, the referee, resigned after the game and apologised for his mistake.
You’ve got to feel a bit sorry for him, right?
4 Javier Mascherano sent off while being taken off
Ecuador vs Argentina, 2013
Have you ever seen a player sent off for what he did while being helped off by the medics? No, us neither.
Well, that is precisely what happened to former Barcelona man Javier Mascherano when Argentina faced off against Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier in 2013.
In the last ten minutes of the game, the former West Ham man was taken off the pitch on a buggy for treatment following a knock.
However, as he was leaving the field, someone threw water at him and instead of ignoring it – it’s just water – he kicked off, literally.
For some reason, the hot-headed defender decided to vent his frustration on the poor medic helping him off the pitch and kicking him. Now, he might’ve been able to claim it was a mistake had he not immediately kicked him again even harder.
He pleaded ignorance when shown the red card, but it was about as obvious as possible.
3 Kieran Gibbs is sent off in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's place
Chelsea vs Arsenal, 2014
Arsène Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge of the Gunners was supposed to be a day of celebration for all the Frenchman had done for Arsenal, but Chelsea made sure it turned into one of the worst days in his managerial career.
The Blues put six past the men in red, and yet the most embarrassing performance on the pitch that day came from the referee, Andre Marriner.
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In the 17th minute, with the Blues already two goals to the good, Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade Chamberlain blocked Eden Hazard’s shot with his hand, resulting in a deserved penalty.
However, with the penalty awarded, Marriner also decided to send the Arsenal man off for his actions, although instead of showing the Ox a red, he turned to defender Kieran Gibbs.
This chain of events understandably confused the Arsenal team as none of them could quite believe what was happening, and even when Chamberlain confessed to Marriner that he handled the ball, the referee had none of it.
In the game’s aftermath, Gibbs had the card wiped from his record, and Marriner issued an apology.
Have you ever seen another example of mistaken identity like that before?
2 Eden Hazard kicks a ballboy
Swansea City vs Chelsea, 2013
Football is a fantastic game. It can give you the highest of highs, make grown men cry like babies, and give you memories that last a lifetime, but it can also be incredibly frustrating.
Whether it’s the opposition wasting time, a poor refereeing – or VAR – decision or a calamitous own goal, the beautiful game can turn sour in plenty of ways.
That said, you’ve got to take the bad with the good, and generally speaking, modern footballers are pretty good at rolling with the punches and getting over things. Unless, of course, you’re Eden Hazard circa 2013.
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The Belgian superstar was a genuinely world-class footballer and will always be remembered as such. Still, something else will forever be remembered alongside his talent, at least in the UK, anyway: his sending-off against Swansea City in the 2012/13 League Cup semi-final.
The score was 2-0 on aggregate to the Swans, and with ten minutes remaining in the tie, the ball went out for a Chelsea throw.
With his side in desperate need of a goal, Hazard ran off to collect the ball, but a Swansea ballboy had beaten him to it, and he wasn’t in any hurry to give the Blues star the ball.
So, instead of waiting a few seconds, the Chelsea star had the bright idea of kicking the ball through the teenager to get the ball. Obviously, the crowd went apoplectic at the sight, and after a quick replay on the big screen, the referee gave the player his marching orders.
In the spirit of fairness, Hazard apologised after the fact and claimed he didn’t mean to kick the youngster, but come on now, you can be the judge.
1 Dzeko pulls down Sokratis' shorts
Greece vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2016
Now, when a player receives his marching orders, it is usually for one of several reasons. Maybe they made a rash tackle, gobbed off to the referee, or started a fight. Any of these would be pretty standard reasons for a sending-off.
What isn’t usual, however, is a player being sent off for pulling an opponent’s shorts down – yes, pantsing someone.
Well, during a World Cup qualifying match in 2016, that is precisely why Edin Dzeko was shown a straight red.
The Bosnian striker was in a tussle with Greek defender Sokratis, and upon being pushed to the ground, he decided the best course of action would be to pull the centre-back’s shorts down.
Usually, the player could plead that it was an accident, they were merely reaching out, and their hand missed or something silly like that, but in this case, there was no mistaking the forward’s intentions.
For us, this has to be the most bizarre red card we have ever seen.