By Canadian Press

Start of Argentina-Brazil World Cup qualifying match delayed due to fight between fans in stands

Nov 21, 2023 | 6:18 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The start of the South American World Cup qualifying match between Argentina and Brazil on Tuesday night was delayed because of a fight among the fans in the stands.

Policemen on the scene were using batons to break up the brawl between supporters of both teams at Rio’s Maracana Stadium.

Argentina players asked those in the stand for calm before heading to the dressing room.

Argentina told their Brazil rivals they would only return to the pitch after the situation was calm.

All 69,000 tickets for the match in Rio de Janeiro were sold.

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Brazil players remained on the pitch waiting for their rivals 20 minutes after the scheduled kick off time.

Policemen gathered around Argentina fans in a section that can host about 3,000 fans.

Argentina leads South American World Cup qualifying with 12 points in five matches. Brazil is in fifth position. Both teams lost their previous games in the round-robin competition of 10 teams.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Associated Press