There was a chaotic end to the Olympic men’s football match between Argentina and Morocco — with the game restarting nearly two hours after it had appeared to finish following crowd trouble and a last-minute equaliser.
The teams left the pitch and broadcast feeds cut out as Argentina appeared to have secured a 2-2 draw courtesy of Cristian Medina’s goal deep in stoppage time, only for that equaliser to be later ruled out following an intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR).
Play restarted at 6pm BST/1pm ET in an empty stadium at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, four hours after the original kick-off, and Morocco held on for a 2-1 victory.
The Athletic explains exactly how the chaos unfolded and why…
What happened during the Argentina vs Morocco match?
Argentina and Morocco’s Group B opener began at 2pm BST/9am ET at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Morocco took a 2-0 lead thanks to a goal in either half from Soufiane Rahimi, before Argentina halved the deficit through Giuliano Simeone, son of the Atletico Madrid manager Diego, in the 68th minute.
Argentina thought they had scored a 106th-minute equaliser (after 15 minutes of stoppage time had been added) when Medina headed home after the ball had hit the Morocco woodwork twice in the seconds beforehand.
First, Nicolas Otamendi’s effort was deflected onto the crossbar by the Morocco goalkeeper Munir.
Then a looping header by Bruno Amione landed on the crossbar before the ball was headed home from close range by Medina.
There were wild scenes in the stands, with a number of cups and bottles thrown towards the celebrating Argentina players.
(Arnaud Finistre/AFP via Getty Images)
A small number of fans wearing Morocco colours ran on to the pitch and they were chased by stewards. Broadcast footage appeared to show a flare-like object go off on the touchline where the two dugouts were located and where a number of players were stood. Players ducked and covered their heads, and swiftly left the pitch as riot police stood nearby.
The game appeared to have ended at 4.10pm BST/11.10am ET, finishing in a 2-2 draw. The broadcast feed cut away and began showing the next fixture between Egypt and the Dominican Republic. The official Olympics match blog also stated that the game had ended.
Fans were asked to leave the stadium, with a message appearing on the big screen reading: “Your session has been suspended. Please make your way to the nearest exit”.
(Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
Why was the match restarted and what then happened?
News broke 90 minutes later that Argentina’s equalising goal had been disallowed for offside.
The players and officials returned to the field and the game resumed shortly after 6pm BST/1pm ET, in a stadium that was completely empty of supporters.
It is unclear exactly why the match restarted and when that decision was made. The disallowed goal had been scored in the 16th minute of second-half injury time, when there were only supposed to be 15. The Athletic has approached FIFA for clarity on the decision-making process.
When it did restart, the referee Glenn Nyberg consulted the VAR pitch side monitor to review Argentina’s equaliser.
Argentina’s Bruno Amione was judged by the semi-automated offside technology to have been offside in the build-up and the goal was disallowed.
The players had already been made aware of this decision before returning to the field.
Three minutes of added time were played in the empty stadium before the final whistle was blown at 6.07pm ET/1.07pm ET, nearly two hours after many thought the match was over.
What has the reaction been?
The Argentina head coach Javier Mascherano could be heard shouting the word “circus” from the touchline during the final stages of the game and he was furious afterwards.
“We were never told that the play (Medina’s goal) was being reviewed, no, no, no,” he said. “The match was suspended because of security. At no time were we told about the review, in fact the official website of the Olympic Games put the match at 2-2. The match was suspended because of security, at no time did they talk about the review.
“Afterwards, when we had no news one hour later, we started to notice strange things. What did the referee tell us? No, no, the referee never came, he never gave us an explanation.
During the interview, Mascherano also alleged that some of midfielder Thiago Almada’s possessions had been stolen while Argentina were training yesterday.
“Let’s turn the page, keep the positive things about the team, especially in the second half, and look for the two wins we’re going to need to qualify.
“What happened on the pitch was scandalous. It’s not a local tournament, it’s the Olympic Games. How can they stop the game seven times in the second half because someone enters the pitch?! At the second or third time they have to make a decision. Seven times they (Morocco fans) entered the pitch!”
Argentina great Lionel Messi, who is not participating at the Games, posted a one-word story on his Instagram account reading “Insolito”, which translates as “unbelievable”, accompanied by an embarrassed emoji.
Why was Argentina’s anthem booed?
As the two teams lined up on the pitch before the match, the Argentina national anthem was booed by the crowd, which was predominantly made up of Morocco supporters.
It was expected that there would be some reaction to the Argentina team competing in France, only 10 days after Argentina international Enzo Fernandez live-streamed a video of him and some of his team-mates singing what the French Football Federation (FFF) has labelled a “racist and discriminatory song” following their Copa America final win over Colombia on Sunday night.
The chant was about the French national team — who Argentina beat in the men’s World Cup final in 2022 — with derogatory references to France internationals of African descent. The FFF said following the incident that it was to file an official complaint with FIFA. Fernandez later apologised and admitted the song included “highly offensive language”.
France’s sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera branded the chanting “pathetic” last Tuesday but Argentina’s vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, defended Fernandez.
Fernandez, though, is not part of the Argentina Under-23 team at the Olympics and is due to return to club duty with Premier League side Chelsea next week.
What next?
Both teams are back in action on Saturday for the second round of group-stage fixtures.
Mascherano’s Argentina take on Iraq at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, while Morocco are back at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to face Ukraine.
Argentina then play Ukraine in Lyon on Tuesday, while Morocco face Iraq at the Allianz Riviera in Nice.
The top two teams in the group will qualify for the quarterfinals which take place on Friday, August 2.
(Top image: Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
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