Ugly scenes at full-time (Photo: BBC Sport)
France and Argentina’s players clashed after the full-time whistle of their Olympics football match amid high tensions between the two nations.
Hosts France sealed a 1-0 win over their bitter rivals on Friday night, courtesy of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s bullet header in the sixth minute.
Thierry Henry’s side advance to the semi-finals where they’ll face Egypt, with the victor going on to play either Spain or Morocco in the final.
Tensions between the two teams have been a boiling point after members of Argentina’s triumphant Copa America squad were filmed singing a racist and transphobic chant aimed toward the French.
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez streamed the video on Instagram which has been widely condemned, with his club teammate and France star Wesley Fofana describing it as ‘uninhibited racism’.
The chant was first sung by Argentina fans following their victory over France in the 2022 World Cup final.
French fans booed and jeered Argentina’s squad at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux before and during the match, though players managed to get through the 90 minutes in one piece.
That all changed after the full-time whistle however, with celebrations for Les Bleus turning ugly as several opposition players confronted them, sparking a melee on the pitch.
Tensions are high between France and Argentina (Photo: Getty)
Argentine captain Nicolas Otamendi appeared to be heavily involved, though ESPN report it was Enzo Millot who sparked the fight after he celebrated in the faces of his rivals.
Players were quickly separated and ushered down the tunnel, before the France team later re-emerged to applaud their fans.
A huge melee broke out (Photo: Getty)
Speaking after the chaos, Henry admitted he ‘didn’t like’ what he saw and was furious that Millot was sent off by the referee for his part in the brawl.
‘I don’t agree with what happened at the end of the match. My player [Millot] got a red card and I don’t accept it, it shouldn’t happen,’ the France and Arsenal legend said.
‘I couldn’t control what happened. I went to greet the coach and when I turned around, what happened happened.
‘We won, but I didn’t like what happened at the end with my player.’
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