Morocco’s upset victory triggers riots in Belgium
Belgian police detained a dozen people and made one arrest after Morocco’s shock 2-0 victory over Belgium in their Group F match in Qatar triggered riots in Brussels, with a car and some electric scooters set on fire.
The riots took place in several places across the Belgian capital, where dozens of football fans, some draped in Moroccan flags, clashed with riot police with water cannons and tear gas.
“Around 7pm calm returned and preventive patrols remain in place in the sectors concerned,” police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere said.
“The rioters used pyrotechnic material, projectiles, sticks and set fires on the public highway,” the police said. “Also, a journalist was injured in the face by fireworks. It is for these reasons that it was decided to proceed with a police intervention, with the deployment of water cannon and the use of tear gas.”
Morocco coach Walid Regragui repeatedly hailed his players’ fighting spirit and the passionate support of the crowd but warned his side had “achieved nothing” even after their win over Belgium.
Morocco upset the highly ranked Belgians, after holding Croatia to a draw in their first game, to advance to four points and put themselves in the driving seat in Group F with a game against Canada to come.
“Today we have achieved nothing,” Regragui said.
“I know everyone is delighted but I know football and you need to respect the game. I want everybody to be happy now but we need to recover quickly and get back to work.
“Canada will be a hard team to play and we have to respect them,” he said after the match at the Al Thumama Stadium.
“We have to keep fighting, we want to get past this round and go to the next level.”
Regragui was effusive in praising his own squad.
“We played against one of the best teams in the world with big players, but we know that if you don’t give 100 per cent, it is impossible to win. With these players and these fans, anything is possible.”
Morocco were urged forward by the encouragement of most of the 43,738-strong crowd in the stadium, who gave them added wings as they looked to be tiring.
Regragui said Morocco had looked to be cautious initially: “We were humble enough in the first half to defend and know they will have most of the possession. We put in a lot of effort and came out in the second half to play a bit more.”