In football, few moments stop the game cold like a red card. It is the ultimate punishment: sudden, decisive, and capable of altering not just a match, but reputations and legacies. Sometimes it’s reckless. Sometimes it’s calculated. And sometimes it’s unforgettable.
Here are five of the most notorious red cards in football history — moments that continue to fuel argument long after the final whistle.
Zinedine Zidane — 2006 World Cup Final
It remains football’s most infamous send-off. In the dying minutes of extra time, with the world watching, Zinedine Zidane drove his head into Marco Materazzi’s chest. The Italian defender collapsed. The referee reached for red.
For France, the cost was immediate: their leader gone, their chances fading. Italy went on to lift the trophy. For Zidane, it was the last act of a brilliant career — and a stain that lingers on his legacy. As The Guardian has noted, the red card “deprived France of a first-choice penalty taker — but correctly so.”
David Beckham — 1998 World Cup
England’s round-of-16 match against Argentina was tense, edgy, and balanced on a knife-edge. Then came Beckham’s flick of the boot.
After Diego Simeone’s challenge, Beckham lashed out with a petulant kick. The referee didn’t hesitate. Red. England were down to 10 men, eventually eliminated on penalties.
Back home, Beckham became the scapegoat. Tabloids vilified him, effigies were burned. For years, the red card defined him more than his free kicks or his stardom.
Roy Keane — Manchester United vs. Juventus, 1999
Roy Keane was never a player to back down. In a Champions League clash with Juventus, he lunged recklessly into Zinedine Zidane. Out came the red.
Manchester United still found a way to win, marching on to their famous treble that year. But the foul was a snapshot of Keane himself — uncompromising, combustible, and often willing to cross the line.
Luis Suárez — Uruguay vs. Ghana, 2010 World Cup
In Johannesburg, with Ghana seconds away from becoming Africa’s first semifinalist, Luis Suárez stood on the goal line and used his hands.
It was blatant. It was deliberate. And it worked. Suárez was shown red, but Ghana missed the penalty. Uruguay advanced on spot kicks.
The outrage was instant—and enduring. Suárez later said: “I could apologise if I injured a player … but in this situation I take a red card and the referee says penalty.” The match is still described by FIFA as “a thriller for the ages,” underscoring how tightly wound the stakes were.
Eric Cantona — Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace, 1995
It wasn’t a tackle. It wasn’t even against another player. Eric Cantona turned, charged toward the stands, and launched a kung-fu kick at a Crystal Palace supporter who had heckled him.
The red card was inevitable. What followed — a suspension, a court appearance, global headlines — was unprecedented. Cantona’s kick became a symbol of both the pressures players endure and the volatile edge of football culture.
The cost of red
Red cards strip away the rhythm of a match. They tilt the balance, punish recklessness, and expose players at their most human.
From Zidane in Berlin to Suárez in Johannesburg, these moments are more than flashes of temper or desperation. They are etched into football’s memory — reminders that a single decision, in a single second, can reshape the sport.
