Twenty cards, four reds, and the referee everyone got wrong

Maniche scored in the 23rd minute at Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, on 25 June 2006. That was the only goal. The match — FIFA World Cup, round of 16, attendance 41,000 — is remembered for the cards, not the football, and the cards are remembered wrong.

The record is real. Sixteen yellows and four reds in a single match is more than any FIFA-administered international tournament had seen. What the legend adds to that fact is where it goes wrong.

Every retelling describes a match that spiralled into violence. But all four dismissals were second yellow cards. Costinha went at 45+1, Boulahrouz at 63, Deco at 78, van Bronckhorst at 90+5 — each for accumulation, not for a single act of foul play. Referee Valentin Ivanov of Russia was strict on discipline and strict on accumulation. That is not the same as losing control.

The one moment that genuinely looked violent was not punished with a red card. Luis Figo headbutted Mark van Bommel during a touchline melee around the 60th minute and received a yellow. So the official who supposedly let a violent match run actually showed the most-discussed act of the match a caution and moved on. The legend has the referee's decisions exactly backwards: severe on accumulation, lenient on the one incident that looked like violence.

The two coaches blamed each other with identical language. Marco van Basten said: “I think it was very bad. It’s a pity that the referee made a mess of this game.” He added: “If you speak of fair play, then look in the mirror first. Portugal are very experienced in dirty tactics and time-wasting.” Luiz Felipe Scolari pointed the same charge the other way: “FIFA always talks about fair play but tonight we saw several gestures that were anything but.” Both invoked fair play. Each meant the other side.

FIFA announced that Ivanov would referee no further matches at the tournament. Then FIFA’s own president, Sepp Blatter, said publicly that Ivanov should have given himself a yellow card for his own performance. Blatter then regretted the remark and promised an official apology. The governing body’s president had attacked his own official in public and had to withdraw it.

Ivanov’s father — also named Valentin Ivanov, a 1958 and 1962 World Cup player for the Soviet Union who died in 2011 — defended his son publicly, arguing that FIFA had itself demanded referees be tough on players at that tournament. The two men are distinct; the referee is the son.

On the record itself, one qualification is necessary. Netherlands v Argentina at the 2022 World Cup produced more cards in total. The accurate claim is that this match holds the record for the most cards shown in ninety minutes at a World Cup. The 2022 match went to extra time and penalties.

Ivanov refereed no further matches at the 2006 tournament, and his refereeing career ran to 2006. He subsequently headed the refereeing and inspection department of the Russian Football Union, then became head of the refereeing department of the Qatar Football Association. The official FIFA removed from its own tournament went on to run refereeing for two national federations.