Morocco beat Argentina as Olympic opener finished after VAR call and two-hour delay

Morocco were 2-1 winners over Argentina in their opening match at the Olympics, with Cristian Medina’s potential equaliser disallowed as crowd trouble caused a two-hour delay.

Argentina looked to have salvaged a 2-2 draw from 2-0 down in Saint-Etienne, with Soufiane Rahimi netting twice before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for La Albiceleste.

Medina appeared to have equalised when he nodded home following a goalmouth scramble 16 minutes into second-half stoppage time, but crowd trouble then broke out with cups, bottles and pyrotechnics being thrown at Argentina’s players by spectators.

The referee took the teams off the pitch, and amid confusion over whether the final whistle had sounded, it was reported another three minutes would be played in an empty stadium.

It was subsequently announced Argentina’s potential leveller had been ruled out after a VAR review showed Bruno Amione was offside in the build-up.

Another three minutes of stoppage time were then played out around two hours after the players had been taken off, with Morocco holding on to win 2-1.

While Morocco now sit top of Group B with three points, Javier Mascherano’s side – who were among the pre-tournament favourites – remain on zero.

#JuegosOlímpicos #París2024

#Argentina 1 #Marruecos 2

Final del partido pic.twitter.com/QUgH68NN8V

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