The Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony hasn’t even happened yet and there’s already a ton of drama.
The soccer game between Morocco and Argentina today ended in chaos after fans rushed the field following a controversial goal.
Morocco led 2-0 in the game but Argentina mounted a huge comeback. An extraordinary 15 minutes of added time was given at the end of the game, giving the trailing side enough time to complete their comeback. They scored the equalizing goal in the 16th minute of extra time on what was seemingly the last play of the game.
ARGENTINA SCORE IN THE 90+16TH MINUTE TO EQUALISE 2-2 IN THE OLYMPICS 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/Nvsrf7N7mC
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) July 24, 2024
Fans did not take lightly to the goal, which looked to be offside and came after an incredible amount of added time. They threw water bottles and other items, including firecrackers, on the field. They lit off flares in the crowd. They got out of their seats and rushed the field.
The chaos led to players on Argentina ducking for cover and rushing off the field. Police, including some in full riot gear, came onto the pitch in an effort to bring back order.
You can see the Argentina team all flinch at the same time as loud bangs were going off from what appear to be firecrackers thrown on the field.
BREAKING:
The first scandal of the Paris Summer Olympics is a fact.
The game between Morocco & Argentina has been suspended after angry Moroccan fans stormed the pitch and the crowd threw firecrackers at the Argentine players after their equalizing goal pic.twitter.com/jeDZzKQ69z
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 24, 2024
🚨🚨| BREAKING: Argentina’s players are STILL waiting in the dressing room to be told if the match has finished because of the Moroccan fans’ invasion. 🤯🇦🇷
[@gastonedul] pic.twitter.com/VhnwxBs4rU
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) July 24, 2024
¡DESCONTRO TOTAL! 🚨💣
Aficionados de Marruecos invadieron la cancha tras empate de Argentina a Marruecos al minuto 105:20 en #JuegosOlimpicos 🚨
🔴 El árbitro agregó 15 minutos
🔴 Aficionados aventaron un petardo y botellas contra los argentinos pic.twitter.com/fj7BNLPUGw— MedioTiempo (@mediotiempo) July 24, 2024
After a very long break to subdue fans and get everyone out of the building, it was revealed that the game had not ever finished but instead been suspended due to the chaos in the crowd.
Upon further review, the tying goal was reversed due to Argentina being offside, and the two teams were ordered to continue playing with the score reverting back to 2-1 in favour of Morocco.
Argentina’s 90’+16th minute equaliser against Morocco was disallowed for offside 2 hours after the game ended.
Justice done but why did it took 2 hours. One of the most embarrassing moments in football ever…pic.twitter.com/w4jFIFA7E9
— Troll Football Media (@Troll__Footbal) July 24, 2024
The match was suspended for roughly two hours from when Argentina scored the tying goal to when the two sides were ordered to resume play. During that time the result switched back and forth from final to suspended on the official Olympics website.
After resuming play, the two teams played for an additional few minutes with no fans present to finish the game. The final score was 2-1 Morocco as the African nation picked up their first victory of the tournament. In total, more than four hours elapsed from kickoff to the result being made final.
It was a hectic start to the men’s soccer competition at the Olympics. Things haven’t gone much smoother on the women’s side of things, as Canada had two staff members sent home after being caught spying on New Zealand using drones.