Chaos ensued at the end of Argentina’s Olympics 2024 football match against Morocco, with pitch invaders and riot police seen entering the pitch.
Argentina netted a dramatic equaliser in the 16th minute of added time to level the game at 2-2.
The goal sparked an angry response from the Morocco fans inside Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne.
Fans could be seen bursting past stewards to gain entry to the pitch, with the referee urging both sets of players to evacuate the playing area.
Riot police took up a position in front of the tunnel, but it didn’t stop missiles from the stands being thrown onto the pitch as the Argentina players scampered away.
Among the most notable players in action for Argentina were Geronimo Rulli, Nicolas Otamendi and Manchester City treble-winning forward Julian Alvarez.
Whereas Achraf Hakimi was donning the red and green for the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists.
The incident came during the first round of fixtures at the Olympics for this year’s football competition.
Evidence of a hostile environment created by the heavy contingent of Morocco fans was evident early on when they were heard booing the Argentina national anthem.
The Atlas Lions faithful were the happier of the two fans for the majority of the game, as two goals either side of the break from Soufiane Rahimi fired Morocco into an unlikely lead.
Giuliano Simeone was able to restore hope midway through the second half before Cristian Medina popped up in the 106th minute of the match to earn Argentina a point.
Iraq and Ukraine make up the other two teams in Argentina and Morocco’s Olympic Games group.
Argentina vs Morocco wasn’t the only match on the opening day of the Games to be shrouded in controversy, with a bomb scare coming before Spain’s meeting with Uzbekistan in Paris.
It’s reported an unattended bag was spotted between the Parc des Princes and Roland Garros, with local police services quick to cordon off the area.
While ticketing issues were said to have left thousands of fans stuck outside the stadium, many of which missed the start of the game.
Spain went on to win the contest 2-1, with Egypt and the Dominican Republic competing in the other Group C match later on Wednesday evening.
