In the 1990 FIFA World Cup the main disciplinary action taken against players came in the form of red and yellow cards. Any player picking up a red card is automatically banned for his country's next game (if it is a serious offense FIFA may extend this ban to a number of games). Players also receive a one-game ban if they pick up two yellow cards within the group stage or within the knockout stage.

Disciplinary statistics

• Total number of yellow cards: 193
• Average number of yellow cards: 3.71
• Total number of red cards: 16
• Average number of red cards: 0.31
• First yellow card: Benjamin Massing – Cameroon against Argentina
• First red card: André Kana-Biyik – Cameroon vs Argentina
• Fastest yellow card from kick off: 4 minutes – Marius Lăcătuş – Romania vs Argentina
• Fastest yellow card after coming on as a substitute: 1 minute – Peter Beardsley – England vs. Egypt
• Latest yellow card in a match without extra time: 90 minutes + – Ernst Aigner – Austria vs. Czechoslovakia
• Fastest dismissal from kick off: 34 minutes – Peter Artner – Austria vs United States
• Fastest dismissal of a substitute: 6 minutes – Andreas Reisinger – Austria vs United States
• Latest dismissal in a match without extra time: 89 minutes – Benjamin Massing – Cameroon against Argentina
• Least time difference between two yellow cards given to the same player: 0 minutes – Yoon Deuk-Yeo – Korea Republic against Uruguay (Yoon was given two yellow cards in the 70th minute)
• Most yellow cards (team): 21 – Argentina
• Most red cards (team): 3 – Argentina
• Fewest yellow cards (team): 2 – Belgium
• Most yellow cards (player): 3 – (three players) Benjamin Massing, Yoon Deuk-Yeo, Frank Rijkaard
• Most red cards (player): 1 – (16 players) Ricardo Giusti, Eric Wynalda, Peter Artner, Frank Rijkaard, Rudi Völler, Yoon Deuk-Yeo, Ľubomír Moravčík, Ricardo Gomes, Benjamin Massing, André Kana-Biyik, Volodymyr Bezsonov, Khalil Ghanim, Refik Šabanadžović, Eric Gerets, Gustavo Dezotti, Pedro Monzón
• Most yellow cards (match): 9 – Austria vs United States (Group A)
• Most red cards (match): 2 – West Germany vs Netherlands (round of 16)
• Most cards in one match: 9 yellow cards and 1 red card – Austria vs United States (Group A)

Sanctions

By referee

Referee	Matches	Red	Yellow	Red Cards
Helmut Kohl	4	1	15	1 second yellow
José Ramiz Wright	4	0	11
Michel Vautrot	3	3	13	1 straight red 2 second yellow
Edgardo Codesal	3	2	11	1 straight red 1 second yellow
Tullio Lanese	3	1	16	1 second yellow
Joël Quiniou	3	1	9	1 straight red
Juan Carlos Loustau	2	2	7	2 second yellow
Kurt Röthlisberger	2	2	11	1 straight red 1 second yellow
Siegfried Kirschen	2	1	8	1 second yellow
Juan Daniel Cardellino	2	0	8
Alan Snoddy	2	0	8
Aron Schmidhuber	2	0	7
Carlos Silva Valente	2	0	7
Zoran Petrović	2	0	4
Peter Mikkelsen	2	0	2
Jamal Al Sharif	1	1	9	1 straight red 2 second yellow
Erik Fredriksson	1	1	5	1 straight red
Shizuo Takada	1	1	5	1 second yellow
Pierluigi Pairetto	1	0	7
George Smith	1	0	6
Neji Jouini	1	0	4
George Courtney	1	0	3
Hernán Silva	1	0	3
Elías Jácome	1	0	3
Alexey Spirin	1	0	3
Carlos Maciel	1	0	2
Emilio Soriano Aladrén	1	0	2
Marcel van Langenhove	1	0	2
Luigi Agnolin	1	0	1
Vincent Mauro	1	0	1
Total	52	16	193	6 straight red 11 second yellow

By team

Team	Yellow	Red	Red Cards	Suspensions
Argentina	21	3	R. Giusti vs Italy 2nd yellow card G. Dezotti vs West Germany (final) 2nd yellow card P. Monzón vs West Germany (final) straight red card	J. Serrizuela vs Brazil P. Monzón vs Yugoslavia (quarter finals) S. Batista vs West Germany (final) C. Caniggia vs West Germany (final) R. Giusti vs West Germany (final) J. Olarticoechea vs West Germany (final)
Austria	10	1	P. Artner vs United States straight red card
Belgium	2	1	E. Gerets vs Uruguay 2nd yellow card	E. Gerets vs Spain
Brazil	7	1	R. Gomes vs Argentina straight red card	Mozer vs Scotland
Cameroon	15	2	B. Massing vs Argentina 2nd yellow card A. Kana-Biyik vs Argentina straight red card	B. Massing vs Romania A. Kana-Biyik vs Romania
Colombia	5	0
Costa Rica	10	0		R. Gómez vs Czechoslovakia
Czech Republic	6	1	Ľ. Moravčík vs West Germany 2nd yellow card	L. Kubík vs Italy
Egypt	4	0
England	5	0		P. Gascoigne vs Italy (Third-place match)
Italy	6	0		N. Berti vs Republic of Ireland
Korea Republic	8	1	D.Y. Yoon vs Uruguay
Netherlands	5	1	F. Rijkaard vs West Germany 2nd yellow card
Republic of Ireland	5	0		C. Morris vs Netherlands
Romania	12	0		M. Lăcătuş vs Republic of Ireland (round of 16)
Scotland	3	0
Soviet Union	3	1	V. Bezsonov vs Argentina	V. Bezsonov vs Cameroon
Spain	4	0
Sweden	4	0
United Arab Emirates	7	1	K. Ghanim vs Yugoslavia 2nd yellow card
Uruguay	9	0
United States	7	1	E. Wynalda vs Czechoslovakia straight red card	E. Wynalda vs Austria
West Germany	9	1	R. Völler vs Netherlands (round of 16) 2nd yellow card	A. Brehme vs Colombia R. Völler vs Czechoslovakia (Quarter finals)
Yugoslavia	9	1	R. Šabanadžović vs Argentina 2nd yellow card