Who has the most red cards in soccer? This is a question that many people have asked over the years. Several players on this list have been suspended multiple times by FIFA. Each player on this list has received at least 20 red cards, while other professional soccer players with as high as 40 red cards. While they may seem hot-headed, these men are some of the best athletes in the world.
Gerardo Bedoya (46)
Gerardo Bedoya is one of the most important players in Colombian soccer history for his aggressive style of play.
Bedoya started his professional football career with Deportivo Cali in 1994 and helped them to two league championships in 1997 and 1999. He also won the Copa Mustang in 1998 and 1999 before signing with Valenciennes FC in France. He spent three seasons playing alongside some of Europe’s biggest stars, such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera, David Trezeguet, etc.
After that spell overseas, he returned to Deportivo Cali before joining Independiente Santa Fe, where he won several titles, including two Copa Colombia competitions, and was named league top scorer on three occasions (2005 & 2006).
Sergio Ramos (27)
Sergio Ramos is the second all-time leader in red cards in soccer history, with 27. He plays for PSG and has won the Champions League treble with Real Madrid.
Known for his aggressive defending, Ramos has received red cards for fouls ranging from simple tackles to vicious elbows to illegal handballs. He was suspended for three matches after elbowing an opponent who was down on the ground during a match against Granada in 2017.
In 2016, he received two yellow cards and a red card from referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz after arguing with him over a yellow card he had received earlier that game.
Ramos has also publicly criticized referees for their decisions against his team on several occasions. In 2018, he called FIFA “a circus” after it suspended him for four games due to an incident during a match against Barcelona where he pushed an assistant referee while protesting another call by the same referee earlier in that game (the suspension was later reduced).
Cyril Rool (27)
Cyril Rool is a retired French football midfielder. He played for France and was part of the World Cup winning team in 1998 and UEFA Euro 2000. Although he was known for his ruthless game, blind tackles, and being at the center of brawls on the pitch, he received 27 red cards during his career.
Rool has been known to be sent off in games where he was not even involved in any altercation or trouble. It seems that referees were looking to get him out of the game and send him back to the dressing room. This happened on eight occasions.
It is said that before every game, Rool would ask his teammates to pray for him because they knew what would happen- they would have to play without their captain since he would be sent off early into the game.
Alexis Ruano Delgado (22)
Alexis Ruano Delgado is a Spanish defender known for his hot temper and violence on the pitch. During one game, he punched Mario Mandzukic and was sent off. The Croatian striker had to be taken off the field on a stretcher with a broken nose and cheekbone. This was after Alexis Ruano Delgado had already been sent off earlier in the game for elbowing another player in the face.
Ruano Delgado has been involved in several incidents during his career. This includes when he was fined for spitting at an opponent during a match against Villarreal CF. He has also been banned from playing for two years after making racist comments toward Real Madrid star Marcelo.
Paolo Montero (21)
Paolo Montero is the player who has received the most red cards in Serie A history, with 21 red cards in his career. He played for Sampdoria, Juventus, and Inter Milan.
In the Italian Serie A, the Uruguayan striker has been sent off more than anyone else: 21 times. This is an impressive statistic that shows how much of a hot head he was during his playing days.
He was known as “The Angry Man” because of his temper tantrums on the pitch. His competitiveness meant he would often lose his cool and get involved in fights or arguments with opposition players or referees.
After retiring from soccer, Monteo became involved in politics and ran for president of Uruguay in 2009 on behalf of his opposition party. He lost that election by a landslide margin but remains active in politics today.
Rafael Marquez (21)
Rafael Marquez has been known as one of Mexico’s most talented defenders, and his 21 red cards speak to that.
Marquez has won titles with both Monaco and Barcelona and is considered the best defender in the history of Mexican soccer. He is known for his physicality, which often gets him in trouble with referees and sometimes results in fouls considered dangerous or violent.
His first red card came in 2001 when he played for Atlas against Necaxa. Three years later, he received another red card while playing for Barcelona against Real Madrid. That same year he was suspended from international competition for four months because of an altercation with a referee during a match against Portugal at the Confederations Cup.
Felipe Melo (20)
Felipe Melo is one of soccer’s most notorious red card recipients. He earned the nickname ‘pitbull’ due to his physique and playing style resembling MMA.
Melo has been ejected from twenty games for violent conduct, which is more than any other player in soccer history. He was also sent off four occasions for diving, a rare feat.
Melo’s first red card came against Palmeiras in 2005 while playing for Corinthians. In 2010 he received two straight reds within a week for punching an opponent and headbutting another player during a match against Cruzeiro.
Matteo Contini (20)
Despite receiving more red cards than anyone else in the league, Matteo Contini is one of the greatest players in Italian soccer history. He played for several Serie A clubs, including Napoli, Parma, and Real Zaragoza. He received a total of 20 red cards during his career, so it’s not surprising that he was once suspended for four months.
Contini was known as an aggressive player who would often take out any frustration he had on the field. His style of play did not make him popular among other players and fans alike, but he continued to be an effective player despite his temperamental nature.
In conclusion, the list is pretty large, and there are some amazing soccer players with a huge red card numbers. Hopefully, by reading this list, you found out that soccer is not an easy sport after all. It requires a lot of passion, dangerous tackles, and fighting. The red cards are unavoidable in soccer, and no one is immune from them.
