The start of the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was delayed by half an hour on Tuesday after police clashed with fans at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Locals and Argentinian fans started fighting during the playing of the national anthems prompting the Brazilian police to charge the visiting contingent, who responded by ripping up and throwing seats at the officers.
Fans near the trouble panicked and came onto the pitch to escape the fighting. At least one injured fan was taken from the stadium on a stretcher.
The Argentina team, led by captain Lionel Messi, went over to the terraces to try and calm the situation before leaving the pitch and returning to the dressing room.
The world champion Argentina team eventually returned once the police had corralled the travelling fans in a pen and the match between South America’s fiercest footballing rivals started after a delay of about 30 minutes.
“We saw how they were hitting the people, it already happened in the Libertadores final. We were more focused on that than on the game and went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, a tragedy could have happened,” Argentina captain Lionel Messi told reporters.
The world champions won 1-0 thanks to a Nicolas Otamendi header in the second-half and handed their fiercest rivals a third consecutive loss as Brazil came into the match having conceded back-to-back defeats in World Cup qualifiers for the first time in their history.
It was also Brazil’s first ever home loss in a World Cup qualifier.
Argentina top the standings on 15 points with Brazil eight points behind in sixth place, the last spot that guarantees a berth at the 2026 finals.
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