Leao-Roman Trading Punches: Double Red in Portugal-Chile Match

The Portugal-Chile preparation match played on Saturday evening at Estádio Nacional in Lisbon will be remembered with a tumultuous half-time in the last rehearsal before the 2026 World Cup. In the 44th minute, a ball battle in the home half turned into a crisis. During Joao Cancelo's struggle to win the ball with a Chilean player, Iván Román pushed and shoved the Portuguese right-back; tension rose quickly on the field. Rafael Leao, the winger of Portugal under Roberto Martinez, got involved in the incident to protect his teammate.

Things got out of control. Leao moved towards the Chilean defender's neck and then punched him in the face; Iván Román collapsed dramatically. Players from both teams rushed in crowds to the scene, teammates tried to separate the fight. The referee first dispersed the crowd on the field, then had a VAR review. After the review, Leao was shown a straight red card for violent conduct. Iván Román was also shown a red card for his initial action against Cancelo and his reaction afterwards. Both players went down to the dressing room early.

The incident came at an unfortunate time for Leao. The AC Milan forward had said in an interview given to Sport TV the day before the preparation match that he wanted to leave Milan and transfer to the Premier League or La Liga — the decision had angered the Rossoneri supporters. This second red card in Leao's career was the first straight red card of his career. Still, good news for the Portugal side: Penalties in friendly matches do not carry over to official FIFA matches, so Leao will be able to wear the jersey in Portugal's World Cup opening match against DR Congo on June 17 at Houston Stadium.

In Group K, Portugal will face DR Congo, then Uzbekistan on June 23 and Colombia on June 27. Roberto Martinez's squad includes stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Leao; the manager had put his strongest XI on the pitch in this preparation match in order to catch momentum for the tournament. However, in the last rehearsal, instead of the expected rhythm, a fistfight scene was experienced. Portugal, shown in 8th place in The Athletic's 48-team power list published last week, has warmed up to the tournament with unexpected tension.