14 Yellow Cards and a Red: Inside the Brutal Drama of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Final
The aggression only intensified as physical fatigue set in. Webb blew his whistle 47 times for fouls across the two hours of play, constantly separating shoving matches and booking players from both dugouts.
| Match Metric | 2010 Final (Spain vs Netherlands) | Previous Record (1986 Final) |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yellow Cards | 14 (9 Netherlands, 5 Spain) | 6 (Argentina vs West Germany) |
| Red Cards | 1 (John Heitinga, 109') | 0 |
| Total Fouls Committed | 47 (28 Netherlands, 19 Spain) | 31 |
| Match Duration | 120 minutes | 90 minutes |
Prior to 2010, the most ill-disciplined final had been the 1986 clash in Mexico City, where referee Romualdo Arppi Filho handed out six cautions. Johannesburg more than doubled that total. Dutch defenders collected nine bookings alone, completely unbalancing their defensive structure as the game entered extra time.
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