Swiss striker Breel Embolo made history at the 2026 World Cup in an unusual way, due to the application of the new "false identity" law adopted by FIFA during the tournament.
Embolo became the first player to be sent off for "mistaken identity" after Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro showed the Swiss striker a second yellow card for simulation in order to win a free kick, resulting in his dismissal from the field in the 72nd minute of the Switzerland-Argentina quarter-final match of the 2026 World Cup.
The incident began when the referee awarded a foul to Embolo, showing a yellow card to Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, before the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened and asked him to review the situation.
After reviewing the footage, the referee reversed his decision, as it became clear that Embolo had tried to deceive him to get the foul. He canceled the warning given to the Argentine player and gave the Swiss striker a yellow card, which was his second in the match, turning the decision into a red card.
The dismissal came just minutes after Switzerland scored the equalizer against Argentina, and Embolo, 29, left the field as his country lost the match (1-3) and were eliminated from the tournament.
This incident marks the first prominent application of the False Identity Law, which was introduced by FIFA based on a proposal from the head of the Italian referees committee, Pierluigi Collina, with the aim of correcting cases in which cards are given to the wrong player after a video review.
The new amendment stipulates that the referee has the right to cancel the card issued to a player if the television replay proves that the violation was committed by a player from the opposing team, provided that the penalty is transferred to the player responsible for the incident.
In Embolo’s case, the application of the law was possible because the referee initially showed a yellow card to Paredes, before a video review revealed the true identity of the offending player, which led to the warning being changed to the Swiss striker and his dismissal from the match.
The tournament had already witnessed the first practical use of this amendment during the match between the United States and Paraguay, when Dutch referee Danny Makkelie canceled a warning he had given to American defender Tim Ream, before giving the yellow card to Miguel Almiron after proving his attempt to deceive, in an incident that previous regulations did not allow to be corrected in this way.
