On December 18 (local time), France lost to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar with 4-2 on the scoreboard. The angry French fans took to the streets and created a riot-like situation. Notably, when France defeated Morocco in the semi-finals to book its place in the finals, riots broke down in France as Moroccan and French fans clashed across the country.
As per reports, 14,000 Riot Police personnel were deployed across the country to deal with the fans. They clashed on the famous Champs-Elysees in Paris. Reports suggest that the fans fired fireworks towards the sky and the police. Videos were shared by the Eastern European media house Nexta on the social media platform Twitter.
Riots erupt in #France after the defeat of the national team in the final of the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/HH2efgzyRf
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 18, 2022
In Lyon, the police used tear gas to disperse them as the fans got violent on the streets. Visuals surfaced on social media platforms suggesting that the fans draped in French flags pelted stones, bottles and fireworks at the police.
In videos, the police were seen shouting “turn around” at the rioting fans. The water cannons were also deployed to control the crown. Reports suggest that dozens of angry fans have been arrested by the French Riot Police.
French journalist Clement Lanot shared a few videos of the riots on social media. In one of the videos, the Riot police were seen standing, prepared to control the aggressive crowd. The fans started throwing fireworks at the police, after which the police personnel charged towards the crowd.
Des tirs de mortiers d’artifice sur les policiers qui évacuent les #ChampsElysees. #coupedumonde2022 #ARGFRA pic.twitter.com/h5bwTuabu7
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) December 18, 2022
Notably, in the riots that broke out following the Morroco-France match, a 14-year-old boy was crushed to death. He was with the rioters when a car was attacked. The driver tried to escape and reversed the car crushing the boy.
Argentina won the FIFA World Cup
Argentina won the FIFA World Cup for the third time in history. The first World Cup victory came in 1978. Later, in 1986, Argentina won the cup for the second time. The fans waited for 36 years for the third cup.
