India, June 20 -- Miguel Almiron, the Paraguay midfielder, on Saturday became the first-ever player to be shown a red card in the FIFA World Cup 2026 for covering his mouth. The incident happened during the Group D match between Paraguay and Turkey, and all hell broke loose at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium after a late confrontation between the referee and Almiron in the first half of the contest. The incident occurred during stoppage time in the first half of the match between Paraguay and Turkey. It all started with Almiron and Turkey's Mert Mulder exchanging words following a foul near midfield.

Almiron then covered his mouth while saying something to Mulder, prompting the latter to immediately appeal to referee Ivan Barton for p...