The history of the yellow and red cards is closely related to the history of the World Cup. And not only because of the aforementioned, but because it was precisely because of something that happened in a World Cup that the need to use them as a way to reprimand or expel a player began to be considered.

In England 1966, the locals played against Argentina and the referee of that game decided to expel the Argentine player Antonio Ubaldo Rattin. At that time the expulsions were made by words and indications. The German referee spoke his native language and English, so the Argentine, who only spoke Spanish, was not able to understand that he was sent off. As a result of this episode the cards were created.

The Battle of Nuremberg

The battle of Nuremberg. This is what the game with the largest number of cards in history was called. It took place on June 25, 2006, and faced Portugal who had one of the best teams in their history, with Luis Figo, Deco and a young Cristiano Ronaldo against the Netherlands Edwin Van der Sar, Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben.

The game was won by Portugal 1-0, but what abounded that day were not exactly the goals, but the cards: no less than 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards for what was undoubtedly one of the most violent games in history of the World Cups.