Who was the first player sent off in FIFA World Cup history?

Plácido Galindo was the first player sent off in FIFA World Cup history, during Peru’s match against Romania at the 1930 tournament.

The dismissal occurred in the inaugural World Cup, held in Uruguay. Galindo was sent off in the first-round match at the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo, which Romania won 3–1. At the time, referees did not display physical red cards; sending a player off meant a direct verbal expulsion by the referee.

That distinction explains a frequent misunderstanding. Galindo was the first player dismissed in a World Cup match, but he was not the first player to receive a modern red card. Physical red and yellow cards were introduced at the 1970 World Cup, while the first actual red-card dismissal came in 1974, when Chile’s Carlos Caszely was sent off against West Germany. Galindo’s record concerns the tournament’s entire history, including the years before cards were used.