Who was the first player ever sent off in a World Cup final?

The 1990 World Cup final, played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 8 July, is not remembered as a great game of football. Argentina, who had won the tournament in 1986, faced West Germany in a rematch of that final. The match was tight, cautious, and increasingly fractious. West Germany won with a single penalty, scored by Andreas Brehme in the 85th minute. But before the final whistle, the game had already made history in a different way.

Pedro Monzón was an Argentine defender who came on as a substitute at half-time in place of Oscar Ruggeri. In the 65th minute, he went into a reckless challenge on Jürgen Klinsmann that the referee, Mexican official Edgardo Codesal, judged worthy of a straight red card. Monzón walked off the field and into the record books — the first player ever dismissed in a World Cup final. He had been on the pitch for less than 20 minutes. Argentina were reduced to ten men, and their hopes of holding West Germany faded from that point.

Monzón was not even the only Argentine sent off that night. Two minutes after Brehme scored the decisive penalty, Gustavo Dezotti received a second red card of the final after grabbing Jürgen Kohler by the throat. Argentina became the first — and so far only — team to finish a World Cup final with nine men. The scoreline at the final whistle was 1–0 to West Germany, but the discipline record was the story that lingered long after.

Monzón's place as the first player sent off in a final has never been taken, but the most famous dismissal in a World Cup final came sixteen years later. In the 2006 final between France and Italy in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane — France's captain and greatest player — headbutted Marco Materazzi in extra time and was sent off. France lost on penalties. Zidane's red card became one of the most replayed moments in football history, but Monzón's remains the first.

This article was written using information from Wikipedia.