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The 2026 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and Switzerland featured one of the strangest refereeing incidents in the tournament’s history, when Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro withdrew a yellow card from Argentina’s Leandro Paredes after a video assistant review (VAR) for mistaken identity and handed it back to Breel with a red card for Switzerland. Acting in the 72nd minute, the score was tied at 1-1 at the crucial moment.
Embolo left the pitch in Kansas City in tears, surrounded by his teammates who consoled him, after being sent off in one of the strangest incidents allowed under international law, which forced Switzerland to play with 10 men at worst, with their most prominent forwards missing.
A card whose ownership has changed
The controversial incident began in the 69th minute when referee Pinheiro booked Paredes for a foul on Embolo, but the VAR room quickly warned that the Argentinian should not have been booked, prompting the referee to turn to the screen to review the incident.
After reviewing the replay, Piñeiro made the decisive decision to overturn Paredes’ caution, ruling that Embolo had feigned a fall and feigned a foul, handing him a second yellow card after the previous caution he had received for a harsh challenge on Paredes in the 44th minute, resulting in his automatic red card.
Why did VAR intervene?
This procedure includes an important organizational aspect that explains why deportation is possible; VAR can only intervene in 4 specific cases: goal or not, penalty kick, straight red card and wrong identification of the penalized player.
Although second yellow cards are not normally subject to VAR review and VAR cannot recommend a sending-off in the case of a second yellow card, the door opened in this incident was one of “mistaken identity” where the card was shown to the wrong player and this assumption allows the referee to correct the card and reassign it to the correct player.
A stack of cards ended the game
While Embolo’s yellow card was recalculated due to the action, the red card was automatically given as a result of the accumulation of yellow cards, as the VAR did not directly send the Swiss player off the field, but only the penalized player, and the law took care of the rest.
In short, if Pinheiro Paredes had not been booked in the first place, VAR would not have been able to intervene, but giving him the wrong card opened Embolo’s game-ending procedure and had a decisive effect on the course of the game, which ended with goals from McAllister and Ndoe.
This strange incident raises questions about the clarity of VAR protocols and their application at crucial moments, especially as Embolo’s dismissal came at a critical moment and tied the score, which could have a major impact on the outcome of the game and Switzerland’s fate in the tournament.
