From Uruguay 1930 to Brazil 2014, we’ve analysed every yellow, second yellow and straight red card to determine which nations have the worst on pitch discipline in World Cup history. Did you know that since 1930, World Cup referees have handed out 118 red cards, 2,133 yellow cards and 51 second yellow cards - A total of 2,302 cards altogether!
To ensure we’ve accounted for every instance of ill-discipline, we devised a points system:
- A yellow card is worth 5 points
- A second yellow (sending off) is worth 7 points
- A straight red card (sending off) is worth 10 points
The nation with the most points is the ‘dirtiest’ on the international stage!
Explore the results below for yourself, how does your nation rank?
| Teams | Total points | All cards | Yellow cards | Second yellow cards | Red cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 674 | 129 | 122 | 2 | 5 |
| Argentina | 657 | 122 | 112 | 1 | 9 |
| Brazil | 597 | 109 | 98 | 1 | 10 |
| Italy | 532 | 99 | 91 | 1 | 7 |
| Netherlands | 528 | 101 | 94 | 4 | 3 |
| Mexico | 404 | 76 | 70 | 2 | 4 |
| Uruguay | 392 | 70 | 61 | 1 | 8 |
| France | 342 | 63 | 57 | 1 | 5 |
| Spain | 330 | 65 | 64 | 0 | 1 |
| Korea Republic | 325 | 63 | 61 | 0 | 2 |
| Cameroon | 312 | 55 | 47 | 1 | 7 |
| England | 285 | 54 | 51 | 0 | 3 |
| USA | 284 | 54 | 50 | 2 | 2 |
| Portugal | 266 | 49 | 43 | 3 | 3 |
| Chile | 247 | 47 | 44 | 1 | 2 |
| Sweden | 224 | 43 | 40 | 2 | 1 |
| Paraguay | 217 | 42 | 40 | 1 | 1 |
| Belgium | 212 | 40 | 37 | 1 | 2 |
| Poland | 212 | 42 | 41 | 1 | 0 |
| Croatia | 209 | 39 | 35 | 2 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 201 | 39 | 36 | 3 | 0 |
| Denmark | 185 | 34 | 31 | 0 | 3 |
| Ghana | 177 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 0 |
| Romania | 170 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland | 165 | 32 | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| Australia | 162 | 29 | 25 | 1 | 3 |
| Yugoslavia | 160 | 30 | 28 | 0 | 2 |
| Costa Rica | 157 | 31 | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| Japan | 155 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 152 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| Nigeria | 145 | 28 | 27 | 0 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia | 130 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 |
| Ecuador | 125 | 24 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| South Africa | 125 | 23 | 21 | 0 | 2 |
| Austria | 125 | 24 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 120 | 23 | 22 | 0 | 1 |
| Russia | 112 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| Soviet Union | 110 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 |
| Colombia | 110 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey | 107 | 20 | 18 | 1 | 1 |
| Slovenia | 105 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| Greece | 102 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| Morocco | 95 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Scotland | 95 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| Algeria | 94 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| Iran | 90 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Honduras | 82 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| Republic of Ireland | 80 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Hungary | 80 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Senegal | 80 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Ivory Coast | 72 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Serbia and Montenegro | 72 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| Ukraine | 70 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Norway | 65 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Angola | 57 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| Slovakia | 55 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Ireland | 55 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Peru | 55 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Iraq | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Serbia | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Togo | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 52 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Bolivia | 52 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 47 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| El Salvador | 45 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 37 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 35 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| China PR | 35 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamaica | 32 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 30 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Egypt | 20 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Canada | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Zaire | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Israel | 20 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Kuwait | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Haiti | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Korea DPR | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dutch East Indies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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