Is 23 red cards in Brazilian mass brawl a world record? Not even close

Cruzeiro’s 1-0 victory over Atlético-MG in the 2026 Campeonato Mineiro final will be remembered less for the winning goal than for the extraordinary scenes that followed it, when a last-second confrontation between goalkeeper Éverson and midfielder Christian mushroomed into a full-scale riot involving both squads, back-room staff and even veteran forward Hulk. By the time order was restored, officials had brandished 23 red cards, a tally that sounds staggering yet still leaves the Belo Horizonte derby well short of football’s all-time dismissal benchmarks.

The flash-point arrived in stoppage time. Christian and Éverson tangled near the corner flag, fell in a heap, and within seconds every substitute, coach and physio had poured onto the pitch. Punches were thrown, shirts were grabbed and the match spiralled into what local media are already calling “The Battle of Mineirão.” Hulk, 39, who initially tried to play peacemaker, was ultimately sucked into the chaos and later issued a public apology on Instagram. “We need to acknowledge our mistakes and learn from them,” the striker wrote. “Rivalry is part of the sport, but respect must always prevail over any emotion.”

While Brazilian football awaits the disciplinary fallout, the 23 expulsions pale beside the sport’s genuine card-heavy epics. The 2006 World Cup’s Portugal-Netherlands clash in Nuremberg produced four reds and 16 yellows, still a FIFA tournament high. Germany’s 1993 Bundesliga meeting between Borussia Dortmund and Dynamo Dresden yielded five reds, as did Paris Saint-Germain’s 2020 Le Classique with Marseille and two separate English Division Two fixtures in 1997. Barcelona hold the Spanish top-flight mark with six reds in a 2003 derby against Espanyol.

Move beyond Europe and the numbers climb further. The 2022 Trofeo de Campeones in Argentina ended with 10 reds, while Boca Juniors’ 1971 Copa Libertadores duel with Sporting Cristal and a 2009 Spanish regional match between Recreativo Linense and Saladillo de Algeciras each saw 19 dismissals. Paraguay’s 1993 clash between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero reached 20 before abandonment, and the Guinness-recognised global record belongs to a 2011 Argentine fifth-tier contest between Club Atlético Claypole and Victoriano Arenas, where the referee sent off 36 players, staff and pitch invaders after a brawl that rendered the pitch a no-man’s-land.

Cruzeiro and Atlético-MG will learn their sanctions in the coming days, but the weekend’s chaos merely underlines an old truth: when tempers flare, South American football can still push the boundaries of discipline—just not far enough to rewrite the record books.