He’s refereeing a quarter-final! World Cup ref once showed 10 reds
· Yahoo Sports
It was a match that made headlines around the world: When Facundo Tello officiated the Argentine Super Cup, no one could have imagined that the entire football world would be talking about him afterward. But what exactly had happened?
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In the historic clash between Boca Juniors and Racing Club, the Argentine referee handed out no fewer than ten (!) red cards. With the score at 1-1, the match had gone into extra time when Carlos Alcaraz scored the winner for the visitors in the 118th minute and celebrated provocatively in front of the Boca fans.
This sparked a massive melee, during which Tello issued six dismissals at once – five of them to Boca players. Alcaraz also had to go. Jonathan Galvan, who had not been brought on, was also shown red for Racing Club.
Because Boca’s Sebastián Villa and Racing’s Johan Carbonero had already been sent off in the 95th minute after a scuffle, and Boca’s Alan Varela (100') had to head for an early shower after receiving a second yellow, the home side ended up with only four outfield players on the pitch.
The match was then abandoned because, under the rules, a game cannot continue if a team has fewer than seven players.
France and Morocco are likely to be on alert on Thursday when Tello referees their quarter-final, and not just because of that memorable performance. His overall record also underlines his uncompromising approach: since 2012, he has handed out more than 2,000 yellow cards and over 75 red cards.
At this World Cup, he has already officiated two group-stage matches. In Canada’s 1-1 draw against Bosnia, he showed five yellow cards; in South Africa’s 1-0 win over South Korea, it was “only” two yellows.
Michael Olise in particular should be careful: if he picks up a yellow card in the quarter-final, he would be suspended for a possible semi-final (either against Spain or Belgium).
The referee team will also – and this is an absolute first at the 2026 World Cup – consist exclusively of Argentinians.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.