10 Craziest World Cup Red Cards
5. Josip Simunic (2006)
The sending off Josip Simunic didn’t involve any kind of horror tackle and didn’t really have much bearing on the outcome of the match, but it still went down in World Cup history as one of the most shocking incidents of the competition.
The incident occurred at the 2006 World Cup during a group stage game between Australia and Croatia. English referee Graham Poll took charge of the match and was thrilled to be officiating at such a prestigious tournament, but with hindsight, he’d probably have preferred to stay home.
Poll issued a yellow card to Croatian defender Josip Simunic in the 61st minute. He then gave him another yellow in the 90th, but didn’t issue the red. A few minutes later, he gave Simunic a third yellow card and finally sent him off. Poll explained that because Simunic was born in Australia and spoke with an Aussie accent, he’d gotten confused in his notes and didn’t realise his mistake until after the game.