The match between Morocco and Argentina was halted due to riots caused mainly by Moroccan fans following Argentina’s equalizing goal (2-2) in the 16th minute of stoppage time on Wednesday at the “Geoffroy-Guichard” stadium in Saint-Étienne, during the opening of the football tournament at the Paris Olympic Games.
The official Olympic website indicated that the match did not officially end, as the referee did not announce the end of the game but instructed the players to go to the locker rooms due to the rising wave of anger in the stands and the crowd storming the pitch.
According to the official website, the match has not officially concluded but has only been suspended, with the possibility of playing the remaining 3 minutes without spectators.
In front of 35,000 spectators, Morocco initially led with two goals from the top scorer of the Asian Champions League and its champion with Al-Ain FC, Sofiane Rahimi (45+2 and 51 from a penalty). Argentina narrowed the gap through Giuliano Simeone, the son of Atlético Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone (68), before Christian Medina scored the equalizer in the 16th minute of stoppage time.
Immediately after the goal, around 20 Moroccan fans stormed the pitch, and bottles and cups were thrown, prompting the referee, who had added 15 minutes of stoppage time, to instruct the players to return to the locker rooms.
There was confusion regarding the end of the match, and the International Olympic Committee’s website noted that the game had been suspended.
In the first half, chances were scarce until Morocco opened the scoring with a coordinated attack after a clever back-heel pass from striker Elias Akhomach to Bilal Khannouss, who penetrated the area and crossed for Rahimi to finish from close range (45+2).
Akhomach won a penalty after being pushed from behind by defender Julio Pareto in the area, which Rahimi converted successfully (51).
Argentina reduced the deficit through Simeone, who followed up a powerful shot from defender Pareto from close range (68). Argentina then managed to snatch the equalizer with a header from substitute Mérida, taking advantage of a rebound off the crossbar (90+16).
