Riots erupted in the heart of Brussels and several other Belgian cities on Sunday after Belgium was upset by Morocco, 2-0, at the World Cup.
Video footage shared online showed crowds overturning and setting ablaze a car Brussels, the Belgian capital. Local reports said rioters also set fire to electric scooters and threw bricks at other vehicles. A Brussels police spokeswoman, Ilse Van de Keere, told reporters that one person had suffered injuries.
It was not immediately clear if the protests were between rival fans of the teams.
The center of Brussels is on fire after the match. 🇲🇦🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/D0zznXZ00d
— Yassin Akouh (@Yassin_Akouh) November 27, 2022
In response, the police in Brussels deployed water cannons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, videos showed. It was unclear if anyone was arrested.
Mayor Philippe Close of Brussels said in posts on Twitter that he strongly condemned the incidents. He advised soccer fans to stay away from the city center. “The police are doing everything they can to maintain public order,” he added.
The city of Antwerp also saw an eruption of violence after the match.
The police in the neighboring Netherlands said that riots had also broken out in Rotterdam, a port city; the Dutch capital, Amsterdam; and The Hague. Footage shared online showed charred vehicles in the middle of one street.
Riot police officers in Rotterdam tried to break up a group of about 500 soccer supporters who had tossed fireworks and glass at officers, according to the authorities.
The World Cup, held this year in Qatar, has had several upsets, with Japan trouncing Germany, 2-1, and Argentina falling to Saudi Arabia, 2-1, before coming back to beat Mexico 2-0, and resurrect its chances of advancing.
Source: Soccer - nytimes.com
