Crowd trouble forced the first football match of the Olympics to be delayed by almost two hours amid chaotic and worrying scenes, with the game eventually completed in an empty stadium.
Morocco had been 2-0 ahead against Argentina, but Cristian Medina appeared to have equalised in the 16th of what had been 15 scheduled minutes of injury time at the end of the second half.
After the resulting crowd trouble, play finally resumed after a lengthy delay with no fans present, and with VAR having ruled out Argentina’s equaliser, Morocco secured a controversial 2-1 victory.
Immediately after Medina looked to have made it 2-2, a number of cups and bottles were then thrown at the celebrating Argentina side before what appeared to be a flare landed near the players and coaching staff.
A number of fans in Morocco colours also ran on to the pitch, with some being escorted off the pitch by stewards.
Riot police moved to the side of the pitch and the referee immediately took the players off the pitch.
The fans inside the stadium in Saint Etienne were told to leave the ground and a message on a big screen in the stadium said: “Your session has been suspended please make your way to the nearest exit.”
It was unclear whether the match had been classed as finished, but it was then revealed the final three minutes would be played in an empty stadium with no fans present.
Before the match could be played to a finish, it was announced that Argentina’s potential equaliser had actually been ruled out by a video assistant referee decision that showed a player was offside before Medina scored.
The players had gone off the pitch at 16:05 BST, and they then came back to warm up at 17:45 before the match could resume at 18:00.
Immediately the referee checked to see if the ‘equaliser’ should stand via a pitchside monitor and, as expected, the ‘goal’ was disallowed.
Play resumed just after 19:00 CET for the last three minutes, and with neither side scoring further, Morocco won the match 2-1.
After a near two-hour delay play resumed with no-one watching from the stands
Both Morocco goals were scored by Soufiane Rahimi, one just before half-time and then a penalty early in the second half as they looked to begin their 2024 gold-medal bid with a win.
Argentina pulled a goal back through Giuliano Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid manager and former Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone.
But, after all the drama, it was Morocco who took the three points.
Argentina won the men’s Olympic football tournament in 2004 and 2008 and ex-Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano, who was a part of the winning squad for the second of those successes, is managing the team in 2024.
Mascherano’s side will now need to get positive results against Iraq on Saturday and Ukraine on Tuesday to have a chance of finishing in the top two in the group and advancing to the quarter-finals.
Group B rivals Iraq and Ukraine meet later in Lyon.
Silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, Spain were made to work hard to beat Uzbekistan in their Group C opener at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was among the spectators watching a Spain side featuring two members of their Euro 2024-winning squad Alex Baena of Villarreal and Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez.
Spain went ahead just before the half-hour mark when Sergio Gomez’s free-kick was helped on by Abel Ruiz to the back post where Marc Pubill turned the ball in.
However, Uzbekistan had chances and drew level from the penalty spot in first-half added time.
Pau Cubarsi was penalised for a foul in the box following a VAR review, and Uzbekistan captain Eldor Shomurodov, the Roma forward, converted the penalty.
Cubarsi, the 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy, had been booked early in the game and did not reappear for the second half.
Spain got a penalty of their own for a foul on Aimar Oroz, but Gomez’s kick was saved by goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov.
However, Gomez made up for that by grabbing what proved to be the winner just after the hour mark.
Juan Miranda cut the ball back from the byline for Gomez — who has just joined Real Sociedad from Manchester City — to fire in.
Spain are in Group C with Egypt and the Dominican Republic.
The pick of Wednesday’s later games will see hosts France face the United States in Marseille in Group A, with Thierry Henry’s team hoping to win a medal despite failing in their attempts to enrol the services of Kylian Mbappe.
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