Saint-Etienne, France- The Olympic men’s football tournament kicked off in chaos and violence on Wednesday as Morocco secured a shocking 2-1 victory against two-time gold medalist Argentina.

The match, held in Saint-Etienne, was interrupted for nearly two hours when furious Morocco fans stormed the pitch and threw bottles from the stands, protesting a late goal by Argentina in the 16th minute of added time.

Argentina thought they had salvaged a 2-2 draw when Cristian Medina scored to level the match in Group B. However, this sparked bizarre and angry scenes, leaving confusion over whether the game had been paused or concluded. Spectators were instructed to leave the stadium while players remained on
the field.

About an hour after the incident, the organisers confirmed that the match was not officially over and that VAR would review the goal to determine its validity.

After a lengthy delay, players re-entered the field and began warming up. Moments before play resumed, VAR disallowed Cristian Medina’s disputed goal for offside, allowing Morocco to clinch the victory.

In an empty Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, an official reviewed the video and provided a brief explanation to the Argentine team, while Morocco’s bench celebrated. The play resumed for about three minutes before the final whistle was blown.

Morocco had led the game 2-0 before Argentina’s comeback attempt. Giuliano Simeone scored in the 68th minute, and Medina’s effort, though ultimately disallowed, had initially seemed to complete the comeback.

This incident raised concerns about security and crowd control at the Olympic venues, while the disallowed goal has sparked debates over the effectiveness and reliability of VAR in critical match situations.