Top 20 Craziest Football Fouls Ever

When appearing in international football’s biggest tournament, you’d expect players to be on their best behavior. But no, not Brazil’s Leonardo. On America’s Independence Day, the host-nation US took on the South Americans at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. But all the USA coincidences didn’t aid midfielder Tab Ramos. Near the end of the first half, seemingly from nothing, Leonardo swung his arm and elbowed Ramos in the head. The strike was so bad that the then-Real Betis player had a fractured skull that put him in hospital for 3-and-a-half months. After being sent off, Leonardo was banned for 4 matches, ruling him out for the rest of the tournament that Brazil went on to win.

In 2002, Sheffield United faced West Bromwich Albion in what’s been called the “Battle of Bramall Lane.” It was a brutal affair, filled with horrendous tackles, red cards, and injuries. Due to the Blades not having enough players, the match was abandoned, and the Baggies were awarded a 3-nil win. The most horrendous moment involved United’s Santos and West Brom’s Johnson. The year before, Johnson had elbowed the Cape Verde international, giving him a fractured eye socket. On this day, Santos sought revenge. In the second half, he launched into a vicious two-footed lunge on Johnson, taking little regard for the ball. On top of being sent off, United’s manager refused to play Santos again, and he departed the club later.

In 2015, the legendary Argentine forward, Tevez, returned to his first professional club, Boca Juniors. Not long after the hometown hero's return, he did something horrendous. With Boca facing Argentinos Juniors, he absolutely messed up. As Tevez challenged Ham, his boot went over the ball, and his studs stuck the midfielder’s ankle. Immediately, the damage was obvious. With an open fracture on the ankle, Ham was taken to the hospital, where Tevez later visited him and apologized. Amazingly, the striker wasn’t even booked for causing the injury, which would’ve sent him off as he already received a yellow. It took Ham 610 days to make his return to the pitch.

Sometimes, the craziest fouls aren't due to the violence. Sometimes, it’s down to the absurd context. In the final of the 2006 World Cup, the legendary French captain and midfielder, Zidane, was set to retire from football after the game. But instead of inspiring his nation to beat Italy, he destroyed their chances in extra time. After words were exchanged with Materazzi, Zidane headbutted the defender in the chest. This act saw the icon get sent off as Italy went on to beat France on penalties. Despite this, Zidane was still awarded the Golden Ball, the tournament’s best player. He was suspended for 3 games, but due to retirement, he agreed to do community service for FIFA instead.

This game in the Scottish Premier Division in 1988 between Rangers and Aberdeen really added gasoline to the emerging rivalry between these two clubs. Only a few minutes into the game, the ball got loose near the Rangers box. The up-and-coming Durrant went to gain possession. However, Aberdeen’s Simpson had other ideas. The midfielder went over the ball and stamped down on the outstretched leg of Durrant. Shockingly, Simpson wasn’t sent off. While the Rangers’ midfielder had to be stretched off as he had sustained a double cruciate ligament tear. Durrant didn’t return to competitive football until 1991 and was a very different player. In 1993, after taking Simpson and Aberdeen to court for £2 million for the brutal injury, the case was settled.

In 2004, Kokmeijer was finding his feet at Go Ahead Eagles, having joined the Dutch side that season. While Bouaouzan was only in his second professional season with Sparta Rotterdam, having come through their youth system. When the 2 teams met in the Eerste Divisie, everything changed. Incredibly reckless, Bouaouzan lunged at Kokmeijer as he cleared the ball, missing it and striking his right leg with his studs up, breaking it instantly. Due to the severity of the injury, Kokmeijer had to retire. As well as the KNVB banning Bouaouzan for 10 games, Sparta suspended him for the rest of the season. In an unusual move, the Dutch government took Bouaouzan to court for battery, where he received a 6-month suspended sentence.

After a career of horrendous tackles, starting fights, and poor discipline, in 2011, Muscat was in the twilight of his career at Melbourne Victory. Then, his team faced local rivals Melbourne Heart, now known as Melbourne City. With the score locked at 2-all late in the second half, Zahra ran down the wing towards the Victory box. Muscat slid in, well over the ball, and clattered into Zahra’s legs, flipping him in the air and nearly landing horribly on his neck. The controversial captain was sent off and later got an 8-game ban. Zahra’s season was over as he needed surgery to repair his knee ligaments. Afterward, Muscat announced his retirement at the end of the season, ending his 21-year career.

All the way back in 1962, one of the most violent football matches of all time happened. During the World Cup, host nation Chile faced Italy in a group match famously known as the “Battle of Santiago,” where nasty challenges and punches were flying everywhere. In the first half, after being fouled by David, Chile’s Sánchez connected with a left hook. Amazingly, the ref did nothing. Shortly after, David got his revenge with one of the most over-the-top “tackles” ever. Just before Sánchez received a lofted pass, David ran behind him and booted him in the head. Absurd. David was unsurprisingly sent off. Sánchez stayed on the pitch and punched Italy's Humberto Maschio, breaking his nose, and still wasn’t sent off.

Sometimes, horror injuries can be a complete accident. In 1996, Coventry City faced Manchester United in the Premier League. City defender Busst went up for a corner. Yet, during the scramble in the box, he awkwardly collided with McClair and Irwin. Immediately, United’s goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel put the ball out as the damage was clear to see. Busst had compound fractures in his tibia and fibula. It took 9 minutes to stretcher him off and remove signs of the injury from the pitch. Busst, altogether, had 22 operations on the injury and, at one point, picked up the infection MRSA. He nearly had the leg amputated. Busst never played professionally again. However, amazingly, he did manage to play amateur football years after.

In 2008, Eduardo was enjoying his first season with Arsenal when his club faced Birmingham City in the Premier League. Minutes into kick-off, the trajectory of his career negatively changed. Picking up the ball in City’s half, Eduardo ran towards the box. Then, defender Taylor slid in with his studs up. He missed the ball and put his momentum into Eduardo’s standing leg. The horrific challenge caused a compound fracture of the Croatia international's fibula and dislocated his ankle. Taylor was shown a red card straight away. The City defender stated he visited Eduardo in the hospital. However, the striker had no memory of that or the tackle. It took Eduardo a year to return to the pitch, but he was a very different player.

In 1997, Feyenoord hosted Manchester United in a group game for the Champions League. With United up three-nil in the eightieth minute from an Andy Cole hat trick, Dutch midfielder Bosvelt let his frustrations out in the worst way possible. As Irwin passed the ball, Bosvelt put his studs into the side of the defender’s knee. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was livid on the sidelines. And rightly so. Not only wasn’t Bosvelt sent off, but he didn’t even get a yellow card before being subbed shortly after the horror challenge. Irwin suffered from ruptured medial ligaments, which ruled him out of World Cup qualifiers for the Republic of Ireland. After seeing replays of the tackle, Bosvelt apologized to Irwin, which the Irishman accepted.

When facing the best player in the world, one tactic is to intimidate them. Usually, this would be shirt-pulling or trash talking. Well, Athletic Bilbao center-back, Goikoetxea, took it to the extreme as his side faced a Maradona-led Barcelona side in 1983. With the Argentine getting the ball, Goikoetxea slid in from behind, striking Maradona’s ankle and breaking it. This tackle, which was basically assault, was slammed by the Spanish media. Goikoetxea earned the nickname “the Butcher of Bilbao,” and he was suspended for ten games. In 1984, the animosity between the sides erupted again in the Copa del Rey Final when Maradona fought with Bilbao and Goikoetxea before his teammates joined in, causing a mass brawl.

Welsh left-back Thatcher would’ve been more at home in the UFC than on a soccer pitch. After already getting in trouble for elbowing Nicky Summerbee in 2000, you’d hope he’d learned from his attack. But no. In 2006, while playing for Manchester City against Portsmouth, he repeated his previous attack. As Portsmouth’s Mendes ran to get to the ball, Thatcher came charging in and elbowed the Portuguese player in the face, knocking him out and sending him crashing into the advertisement boards. Mendes needed oxygen at the pitchside and suffered a seizure. He thankfully recovered. Thatcher was only initially booked for his brutality. But City banned him for six games along with a fine, while the FA later suspended Thatcher for eight matches.

Witsel has been seen as a creative midfielder throughout his career, not for horrifying challenges that left opponents in immense pain. But that was the case in 2009. On that fateful day, Witsel’s Standard Liège took on Anderlecht. With the ball loose, the Belgium player tried to beat Wasilewski to the prize. Instead, with a massive lapse in judgment, Witsel put his weight on the Polish defender’s outstretched leg, visually snapping it in an instant. With Anderlecht players and coaches erupting in anger, the ref unsurprisingly sent off Witsel. Afterward, the Belgium FA, the RBFA, suspended Witsel for eight games after an appeal. While Wasilewski had surgery to repair his fractured tibia and fibula.

In 2010, Welsh international Ramsey was one of the hottest prospects in the sport for Arsenal. But his potential took a battering when his side faced Stoke City in the Premier League. With a fifty-fifty challenge, Shawcross and Ramsey both went for the ball. However, an error in judgment by the Stoke defender caused him to kick into the Welshman’s legs. Immediately, it was obvious some serious damage had been done. Both sets of players looked distraught at what had happened. Shawcross was shown a straight red and left the pitch in tears. Ramsey had broken his tibia and fibula. It took until 2013, after a couple of loan moves to gain match fitness, for him to return fully to the Arsenal first team.

If you’ve ever played the Beautiful Game, sometimes, you might get a bit frustrated as a skillful player makes your team look really bad as they dribble their way through the pitch. But the worst thing to do is let that annoyance consume you. Well, in Group B’s first fixture at the 1990 World Cup, Cameroon had a surprise one-nil lead against defending champions Argentina. As the ball came to winger Caniggia in his half, he ran rings around several Cameroon players as he aimed for their goal. Losing his balance after a seemingly bad challenge, Caniggia was still going. That was until defender Massing booted the Argentine so hard that his boot came off, earning himself a red card.

The World Cup tends to bring out the best -- and worst -- in players. And for the Netherlands's De Jong, it was definitely the latter. Playing in a team dripping in talent, the Dutch faced an iconic Spain squad in the 2010 final. Only 28 minutes into the match, De Jong set the standard of the match since there were fourteen yellow cards and one red. As Alonso headed the ball, the then-Man City midfielder decided to do what can only be described as some kind of karate move. He struck Alonso in the chest with his studs, leaving Spain’s midfield general in pain. Shockingly, the referee, Howard Webb, only gave De Jong a yellow card, a move he later regretted once he saw the replay.

As far as the most graphic injuries in this video go, this one gets the gold prize. In 1981, in Germany’s Bundesliga, Lienen, playing for Arminia Bielefeld, descended towards Werder Bremen’s box. But Siegmann had another idea and lunged in recklessly. Now, we don’t know how sharp ‘80’s studs were, but apparently very. A large ten-inch wound had formed on Lienen’s thigh. Somehow, the midfielder got up and argued with people on the sidelines. With damage like that, Siegmann was sent off, right? No, he only got a yellow card for that horror. It took 23 stitches to repair the damage for Lienen. Amazingly, he was back in training only seventeen days after this tackle.

The semi-final match between West Germany and France at the 1982 World Cup is seen as an action-packed classic bout. But this battle was very nearly tarnished by one idiotic incident. As France’s Battiston was bearing down on the German goal, he saw keeper Schumacher charging at him. And that was probably the last thing he remembered from that game. As Battiston’s shot went wide, Schumacher violently collided with him. The defender was knocked unconscious, had two teeth knocked out, received three cracked ribs, and damaged his vertebrae. He received oxygen on the pitch and slipped into a coma. Battiston’s teammates thought he had perished. Thankfully, he recovered. But even more shockingly, the ref didn’t even give a foul, let alone send off Schumacher.

In 1997, a clash between Keane and Haaland while he played for Leeds United resulted in a torn anterior cruciate ligament for the Irishman. Not knowing the severity of the injury, the Norwegian screamed at him. Well, Keane doesn’t let things go. In 2001, Manchester United and Manchester City faced off. During the match, Keane purposely missed the ball and stamped into Haaland’s right leg, which struck his injured left. While Keane was sent off, it was when he released his autobiography a year later that it got more dramatic. In it, he stated he did the brutal tackle on purpose. For that, Keane received a further ban and a fine. Haaland never really recovered from his already injured left knee and retired in 2003.

What’s the greatest goal-line clearance by an outfielder in footballing history? Niklas Süle against Kylian Mbappé? Andy Robertson against Jean-Philippe Mateta? Bacary Sagna against Gabriel Agbonlahor? Or something else? Let us know below!