‘Disgraceful’ USA vs Brazil friendly descends into chaos as eight red cards issued and security armed with riot gear involved

You think you’ve seen everything in football, until you haven’t.

The friendly between the United States’ women’s national team and Brazil was anything but.

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Having lost 2-1 to the As Canarinhas in the first of the teams’ two friendlies on Sunday, the USWNT sought to fight back in front of 55,144 fans at Arena Castelão in Fortaleza.

Sophia Wilson, who has only recently just returned to the U.S. Soccer set up after having been away on maternity leave, forced an own goal in the second half after her long-range shot deflected off of Isabela Chagas.

It would prove to be the deciding goal in a scrappy 1-0 victory.

This win marked the first time that the USWNT had beaten Brazil in Brazil since 1997, which could be perceived as a good omen with the 2027 Women’s World Cup being staged in the South American country on the horizon.

But it was the scenes toward the end of the match, and subsequently after the referee blew for the final whistle, which dominated the headlines.

Emotions boiled over for A Selecão, with Brazil head coach Arthur Elias and several members of his staff seeing red in the 76th minute.

This head loss spilled over onto the pitch in the closing moments of the contest, as Bia Zaneratto picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time for shoving American Emily Sonnett.

This was shortly followed up by a red card being brandished to Tarciane after the referee deemed she had elbowed Wilson in the mouth, leaving her stricken on the ground for several minutes.

Brazil therefore saw out the remainder of the game with nine players on the pitch.

Tempers continued to flare after the game leaving Emma Hayes stunned

Tempers continued to flare and in the immediate aftermath of the final whistle having been blown, Ludmila and Manchester City winger Kerolin also received red cards – taking the total tally to eight – with Brazilian players having to be separated from the referees.

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“If this is any indications of what the World Cup might be like next summer, it’ll be quite a tournament,” HBO Max play-by-play announcer Luke Wileman said on the broadcast as the scenes unfolded.

Security guards armed with riot gear even had to get involved in a last-gasp attempt to diffuse the tension.

“Honestly, what happened here today is a complete disgrace,” Brazilian midfielder Angelina said after the game. “The fourth official had no idea what’s going on the field, VAR doesn’t work. It apparently doesn’t check anything.

“One of our players gets stepped on and nobody reviews it. Then there’s a shove here, and the referee suddenly wants to start sending our players off. So it’s really difficult.

“One of USWNT players gave an interview saying it was a really nice atmosphere. But on the field, she was saying we were trash, that we didn’t know how to play football.

“So it’s a huge lack of respect – both from the refereeing and from their players too.”

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In the midst of Brazil’s utter meltdown, USWNT head coach Emma Hayes remained calm and poised, leading by example.

“My job is to have respect for the officials,” Hayes said after the match. “My job is to make sure I stay in my technical area. There is only one person allowed to stand.

“And my job is to be a role model for my players, to display the behaviors to them that I want from them.

“So I can only talk about my behavior, and I thought my behavior was good. And I thought my behavior with my players – in a very fantastic environment with a very noisy crowd who bring a lot of energy – I’m very happy with the way I behaved today. So I can only speak to that.”

Ending the 2025-26 season with a win over one of their fiercest competition, and doing so despite the chaos from the opposition is exactly the type of strength and resilience that Hayes has sought to instill in her team since taking over the reins in 2024.

If anything, the conditions they played through on Tuesday, no matter how ugly it was, will only serve as experience ahead of the World Cup next summer.

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