List Of Top Five Players With The Most Red Cards In Football History

A red card is often referred to as the worst nightmare for a footballer and their entire team, as it leads to an immediate ejection of the football player from the team for the remaining match. Also, once a player is ejected from the team after receiving a red card, the football manager of that team stands in no position to even recruit a replacement for them, which ultimately leads their team to compete with fewer players as compared to the opposition team. A football player is generally handed a red card for serious offences and misconduct on the field during the game.

List Of Top Five Players With The Most Red Cards In Football History

• Gerardo Bedoya: 46

Have you ever wondered: What can possibly be the highest number of sent off? Well, it’s forty-six! Former Colombian professional football player and current manager, Gerardo Alberto Bedoya Mùnera, was ejected for a total of forty-six times with a red card in his entire football career that lasted for almost a decade from 2000 to 20009. Gerardo Bedoya’s aggressive and combative style of play often landed him into serious troubles on the field. Out of all the forty-six red cards that he received in his career, two of them proved to be the most controversial for the Colombian football player. 

In a 1999 Copa America match against the United States, Gerardo Bedoya violently attacked the U.S. midfielder Brian Maisonneuve, receiving a red card immediately. A similar incident happened during a Colombian League match between Atletico Nacional and Millonarios when Gerardo Badiya violently tackled the opponent, leading the match referee to issue another red card for his offensive behavior on the field. 

• Sergio Ramos: 29

On the second spot in our list of top five football players who have received the highest number of red cards, we have Spanish professional football player Sergio Ramos Garcìa, who has received the second-highest total of red cards in his football career so far. Although widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders at the international level, Sergio Ramos has been ejected for a total of 29 times from the team after being given red cards for his offensive and harmful behavior on the field. 

The 2017 UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and Real Madrid witnessed one of the most controversial moments in Sergio Ramos’ football career when he was shown a red card in the 93rd minute of the match for hitting a foul on Miralem Pjanic. Although Real Madrid went on to clinch the match, Sergio Ramos was brutally criticized by the fans of Juventus for his deliberate misconduct on the field. 

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• Cyril Rool: 27

Next at the third spot in our list of top five football players who have received the highest number of red cards, we have a former French football player who played as a midfielder all along his football career, Cyril Rool. The midfielder was sent off from the field for a total of twenty-seven times, which indeed is a shocking fact to fathom for the football fans. 

Often hailed as one of the most fearless football players who did not know how to hesitate even for a second before shouting in the face of the referee for almost every call, Cyril Rool was quite a ruthless player for the opposition teams. Cyril Rool’s violent tackle during a match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain in 1999 is still considered as one of the most cold moments in the history of his football career. 

• Edgar Davids: 25

Former Dutch professional football player Edgar Steven Davids is at the fourth spot on our list of top five football players who have received the highest number of red cards. Edgar Davids was handed a red card a total of twenty-five times in his football career. Often hailed as “the Pitbull” for hard tackling and extreme aggression on the field against the opponent players in almost every match that he played in his football career, Edgar Davids is undoubtedly one of the most aggressive football players to feature in our list of footballers who received the highest number of red cards. 

• Alexis Ruano Delgado: 22

At the fifth spot in our list of top five football players who have received the highest number of red cards, we have a former Spanish football player, Alexis Ruano Delgado, with a total of 22 red cards that he received in his football career as a central defender. Alexis Ruano Delgado’s football career marked numerous serious controversies which often landed him in deep trouble, including the match between Real Madrid and Granada CF in March 2016, where he was brutally criticized by the fans and given a red card immediately by the referee for his hard-tackling move against Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez.