Miguel Almiron becomes first player sent off for covering his mouth

Former Newcastle player Almiron was given his marching orders in first half stoppage time after covering his mouth while he appeared to direct a comment at Turkey's Mert Muldur during the two teams' World Cup Group D game in Santa Clara, California.

The incident occurred just before halftime with Paraguay leading 1-0 in the match at Levi's Stadium.

Paraguay's FIFA World Cup campaign took an unexpected turn when midfielder Miguel Almiron was shown a red card during a heated encounter with Turkey, highlighting one of the tournament's newest and most controversial regulations.

After reviewing the incident on video, Barton issued a straight red card under a new regulation introduced for the 2026 World Cup.