MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié became the second player to be issued a red card at the World Cup under FIFA’s new rule that calls for a player to be sent off for covering their mouth during a confrontational exchange with an opponent.
Hincapié was sent off in the 95th minute of Ecuador’s 2-0 loss to Mexico Tuesday in the round of 32. He was shown the red card following an exchange with Mexico forward Santi Giménez.
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Referee Slavko Vincic, of Slovenia shows a red card to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3),not in picture, during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Referee Slavko Vincic of Slovenia speaks to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3) before sending him from the field during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Ecuador's Piero Hincapie leaves the pitch after receiving a red card during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Mexico in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Referee Slavko Vincic, of Slovenia, talks to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
FIFA established the new rule to prevent players from hiding abusive comments to opponents by covering their mouth.
Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was the first player to be punished under the new rule when he was sent off in a group stage match against Turkey last week.
While Ecuador’s tournament is over, Hincapié will be suspended for the team's next international match.
Jack Little is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
Referee Slavko Vincic, of Slovenia shows a red card to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3),not in picture, during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Referee Slavko Vincic of Slovenia speaks to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3) before sending him from the field during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Ecuador's Piero Hincapie leaves the pitch after receiving a red card during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Mexico in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Referee Slavko Vincic, of Slovenia, talks to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie (3) during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Mexico and Ecuador in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros beat U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in a Colorado House primary Tuesday, a stunning victory for the first-time candidate against a nearly 30-year incumbent and another win for the Democratic Socialists of America.
Kiros, 29, is the latest candidate to rise from the party's left flank and boot an incumbent, with two self-described democratic socialists winning their primaries last week in New York. The Colorado district covers the dark blue city of Denver, and Kiros is expected to win in November and reach Congress in January.
The victory helped answer a question that's recently faced the party nationally: Are voters gravitating toward a younger, more progressive generation of leaders?
Elsewhere, however, Sen. John Hickenlooper successfully fended off a primary challenge from self-fashioned “insurgent progressive” state Sen. Julie Gonzales.
And while a smaller divide separated the two Democrats competing for U.S. House in the state's lone swing district, the candidate considered more progressive, state Rep. Manny Rutinel, won.
In the governor's race, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet struggled to meaningfully distinguish their agendas. Instead, the two Democrats accused each other of pulling punches against Trump. Weiser won Tuesday.
DeGette had comfortably controlled her House seat — as a more progressive lawmaker herself — in Denver for nearly 30 years, then came Kiros.
The early signs showed in a March Democratic assembly, a process to decide which candidates get on the primary ballot. Both candidates qualified for the ballot, but first-time candidate Kiros blew past DeGette.
She won again Tuesday, an even bigger jolt for the Democratic establishment and DeGette, who's been a progressive lawmaker herself.
Kiros joins two democratic socialists and a progressive who beat out establishment-backed candidates — two of whom were incumbants — in Democratic House primaries in New York.
Similar to the New York races, Kiros had the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, while DeGette was backed by Colorado’s established Democratic House delegation.
Kiros's victory helps cement the nascent but clear uprising of democratic socialist candidates, which has made some party leaders uneasy.
DeGette had argued that experience in Congress is needed right now to combat Trump, while Kiros, a former attorney, accused DeGette of ineffectiveness.
That didn't come as a surprise to the political world, though it dampened a broader wave of progressive candidates beating establish-backed Democrats across the country.
Gonzales, the state senator who challenged the more centrist Hickenlooper, had attacked him for being an “incrementalist” and had said she previously joined the Democratic Socialists of America but that her membership had lapsed.
After his victory, Hickenlooper quickly turned his attention to Trump and said he'd never lost an election and didn't intend to in November.
“Coloradoans have once again made their voices clear. We are not going to accept Trump’s broken promises and cost of living emergency, or his constant corruption,” he said in a video posted to YouTube.
Colorado's 8th Congressional District is relatively new, stretching from the northern suburbs of Denver up through farming country, and has flipped party control in recent elections.
Evans now holds the seat, after beating the Democratic incumbent in 2024.
Party leaders thought the more moderate Shannon Bird, a former state representative, was best equipped to challenge Evans. But Rutinel, who had the more progressive record, beat Bird Tuesday night.
The district is heavily Hispanic and poorer than much of the rest of the state, and that's where Rutinel, who is Latino, planted a flag, arguing his personal story and more aggressive economic agenda would be more potent against Evans.
“This is the moment for all the kids out there who had the deck stacked against them,” Rutinel said in his victory speech. “I’m going to work with everything I have so that those kids have the same opportunities to live out the American Dream that I did.”
Weiser, the state attorney general, won the Democratic primary Tuesday and is expecting to win come November. Term-limited Gov. Jared Polis will depart after two-terms governing with a more moderate touch, at times stymieing progressive state lawmakers.
Weiser, who formerly served in the presidential administrations of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, is considered to be more sympathetic to his leftward flank. Bennet, the U.S. Senator who Weiser beat Tuesday, would likely have brought a similar change.
On the campaign trail, candidates struggled to show major differences in their political agendas, and instead often attacked each other over who could better stand up to Trump.
Weiser hammered his point home in a victory speech to ecstatic, sign-waving supporters who crowded around the candidate.
“In the face of a lawless bullying Trump administration trying to intimidate us, rip away our rights and freedoms," Weiser said, “you made it clear that we need a leader who will fight back and never bend the knee.”
After his loss, Bennet spoke to supporters. “Sometimes the harder path is the right path, even when it doesn’t lead where you’d hoped," he said.
Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros speaks after winning the Democratic nomination during a primary election night watch party at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Supporters dance after the second round of results came in with Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros leading during a primary election night watch party at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Hasan Piker, center, takes a photo with Dolfin Olsen and Micah Stemm-Wolf at Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros' primary election night watch party, at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Supporters cheer as the second round of results come in with Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros leading during an election night watch party at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Supporters cheer after the second round of results came in with Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros leading during an election night watch party at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Erin Ludlam talks to a voter about where they can park and vote inside of Blair-Caldwell Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Danielle Grisolano brings her dogs Lincoln and Pepper with her to vote in the Democratic primaries at Denver Public Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Nikita Valdez jumps while cheering after the first report of the election results show Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros in the lead during a primary election night watch party at The Broadway, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
Adam Ballinger walks a voters ballot to the box in the Democratic primaries at a drop off location near the Denver Museum of Art, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
People vote in the Democratic primaries at Blair-Caldwell Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Rebecca Slezak)
