Qatar 2022: Morocco fans run riot after win over Belgium

Riots broke out in Brussels Sunday night after Belgium were beaten 2-0 by Morocco in a World Cup group game.

The police fired tear gas and a water cannon was deployed after dozens of rioters, mainly youths of Moroccan origin, set fire to rubbish and smashed up cars in the city centre.

“Fireworks and flares were used and projectiles were thrown,” said Ilse Van de Keere, a spokeswoman for the Brussels police. “It was then decided to proceed to a police intervention, with the deployment of a water cannon and tear gas.”

The youths were contained in streets around the station as clashes continued into evening. “It seems to be a cat-and-mouse game with the police,” VRT, the state broadcaster said.

Trouble started after the match when police tried to disperse Morocco fans.

“The police are just jealous of our victory,” one of the rioters told HLN news. “They want us off the streets because we have a different origin. We are ready to respond.”

A television crew was pelted with missiles and a journalist injured in a confrontation with rioters.

Police said trouble started after the game when “dozens of people, some of them wearing balaclavas, sought confrontation with the security forces”. The police arrested 13 people last night.

One shopkeeper of north African origin expressed dismay at the violence in a poor immigrant area of the city where clashes between youths and the police are common. “I don’t understand why they are doing this. This should normally be a day of celebration,” he said.

Philippe Close, the Brussels mayor, told fans to avoid the city centre.

Antwerp, Belgium’s main port which has a large population of people of Moroccan origin, was tense  after riot police dispersed fans.

There was violence across the border in the Netherlands. In Rotterdam fireworks and glass were thrown at the police