IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Darren Yamashita
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group D - Turkey v Paraguay - San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Santa Clara, California, U.S. - June 19, 2026 Referee Ivan Barton shows a red card to Paraguay's Miguel Almiron
After falling in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to the United States, Paraguay rebounded on Friday night to beat Turkey, 1-0.
But it didn’t come without controversy, as the Paraguayans were forced to play the entire second half with 10 men after star play Miguel Almiron was shown a red card in stoppage time of the first half.
What did Almiron do wrong? Did he injure someone with a dangerous tackle? No. Did he hit someone in the face with a hand or elbow? No. Perhaps he picked up two yellow cards? Not that either.
Instead, Almiron was shown a red card in the World Cup because he was seen covering his mouth while talking to a Turkish player … yes, you read that correctly.
Miguel Almiron Shown Red Card At World Cup For Covering His Mouth
Late in the first half, there was a coming together between several Paraguayan and Turkish players, who began shouting at one another.
At one point, Almiron was spotted covering his mouth while seemingly saying something to Turkish right back Mert Müldür, who immediately ran up to the referee.
The referee was then signaled to review the incident using VAR, before sending off Almiron for, and I quote, “covering his mouth.”
The new rule states players can’t cover their mouth while talking. Straight red for Miguel Almiron.
I get the spirit of the rule but feel it was implemented too quickly for players to adjust. Usually, new rules are tested in a club season before official. pic.twitter.com/OvGs2StQaC
— herculez gomez (@herculezg) June 20, 2026
The new rule was implemented following a controversial incident involving Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid/Brazil superstar Vinícius Júnior in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League.
Vinicius claimed that Prestianna made a racist remark toward him, however, he covered his mouth while speaking and instead stated that he only made homophobic comments, not racist ones.
He was later suspended for six matches over the incident.
The rule does make sense to some degree. If a player is covering their mouth when speaking toward an opponent, it’s easy to assume that they’re not saying something very pleasant.
However, if the goal is to root out racism, it’s kind of hard to imagine what Almrion could have possibly said to Müldür in this specific instance.
Additionally, it creates the hilarious possibility that a player is sent off simply for covering their mouth because they needed to sneeze. After all, if we’re eliminating intent and context, that is the rule.
Safe to say it may not be long before this bizarre new rule sees an alteration.