World Cup Referees: The Officials Most Likely to Reach for the Cards

📊 Top 10 Strictest World Cup Referees (Ranked by Yellow Cards)

ℹ️ Booking stats are taken from Transfermarkt.com at the time the article was written and may have altered slightly since | The stats are based over a referee's career so far to help provide insight into their general booking behaviour.

1# Andrés Rojas - Colombia

Colombia's Andrés Rojas is the referee with the highest yellow card per match average of the officials at the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.

At the time of writing, he has shown 1958 yellow cards and 135 red cards in 353 fixtures and gives an average of 5.52 yellow cards per game.

2# Alejandro Hernández - Spain

Spanish official Alejandro Hernández is another at the top of the yellow cards per game table and is another whose World Cup matches should be considered for booking betting markets.

At the time of writing, he has shown 2581 yellow cards and 166 red cards in 477 fixtures and gives an average of 5.41 yellow cards per game.

3# István Kovács - Romania

The top three also includes István Kovács from Romania. He has shown 3128 yellow cards and 207 red cards in 597 fixtures and gives an average of 5.24 yellow cards per game.

🟥 Héctor Said Martínez - Honduras

When it comes to red cards, it is Honduras's Héctor Said Martínez that stands out. He dishes out a red card on average every 0.66 matches!

While his yellow card rate isn't as high as some others, his willingness to reach for red pushes him into the most strict band of referees.

🟨 World Cup Referee Yellow Card Averages (Highest → Lowest) - Full Table

ℹ️ Booking stats are taken from Transfermarkt.com at the time the article was written and may have altered slightly since | The stats are based over a referee's career so far to help provide insight into their general booking behaviour.

📈 Over/Under Betting Model (Cards Per Match)

When it comes to booking bets at the 2026 World Cup, there are plenty of markets to explore. Maybe one of the most popular to consider based on the above referee stats is the over/under cards per match markets.

🟥 OVER-LEAN Results (High Card Referees)

(4.50+ yellows/game — strong Over 3.5 / 4.5 bias)

• Andrés Rojas (Colombia) — 5.52 Y/G | 0.38 R/G

• Alejandro Hernández (Mexico) — 5.41 Y/G | 0.35 R/G

• István Kovács (Romania) — 5.24 Y/G | 0.35 R/G

• Kevin Ortega (Peru) — 5.22 Y/G | 0.37 R/G

• Héctor Said Martínez (Honduras) — 5.21 Y/G | 0.66 R/G

• Yael Falcón Pérez (Argentina) — 5.18 Y/G | 0.25 R/G

• Ivan Barton (El Salvador) — 5.13 Y/G | 0.47 R/G

• Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay) — 5.05 Y/G | 0.29 R/G

• Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) — 5.05 Y/G | 0.29 R/G

• Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela) — 4.96 Y/G | 0.30 R/G

• Dario Herrera (Argentina) — 4.96 Y/G | 0.36 R/G

• Facundo Tello (Argentina) — 4.69 Y/G | 0.35 R/G

• Ramón Abatti (Brazil) — 4.60 Y/G | 0.26 R/G

• João Pinheiro (Portugal) — 4.51 Y/G | 0.19 R/G

Total: 14 refs

🟩 UNDER-LEAN Results (Low Card Referees)

(< 3.50 yellows/game — strong Under bias)

• Drew Fischer (Canada) — 3.28 Y/G | 0.16 R/G

• Michael Oliver (England) — 3.27 Y/G | 0.15 R/G

• Jalal Jayed (Morocco) — 3.25 Y/G | 0.16 R/G

• Espen Eskås (Norway) — 3.23 Y/G | 0.12 R/G

• Danny Makkelie (Netherlands) — 3.22 Y/G | 0.24 R/G

• Clement Turpin (France) — 3.21 Y/G | 0.26 R/G

• Glenn Nyberg (Sweden) — 3.07 Y/G | 0.13 R/G

• Yusuke Araki (Japan) — 2.69 Y/G | 0.13 R/G

Total: 8 refs

🟥Consider How Red Cards Can Alter Ref Stats

While focusing on yellow cards per game is a good indicator for general match booking bets, especially when betting over/under markets, it is sometimes also worth considering how red cards could change things.

Red card betting is also possible with the best football betting sites so could be considered when certain officials are in charge.

⚠️ Key Insights

Best Bookies for World Cup 2026 Booking Bets

The best betting sites will have a wide range of markets for the World Cup, both for pre-match and live betting, including good booking markets. Any bookie we recommend also has good apps, live streaming, and bonuses.