2024-07-25 08:35:02
Argentina thought it had escaped the opening match on Wednesday against Morocco at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 2-2 draw, but after a lengthy VAR check, the South Americans saw their second goal ruled out for an offside call.
Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored deep in injury time to salvage what looked like a 2-2 draw, but the decision ruling out the goal was delivered about two hours after play was suspended when the teams re-emerged on to the pitch to finish the match in an empty stadium.
The teams played for three minutes and 15 seconds after VAR completed its review and disallowed the goal.
After order was restored in Saint-Etienne and the teams had left the field following the fan invasion, they discovered that the match had not been completed but suspended by officials.
Both teams were welcomed back onto the field for brief warmups so the game could resume, but it was still not enough for Argentina to secure a point as Morocco secured the 2-1 victory.
Morocco, which was led by Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, did just enough throughout the match to earn a victory, even after failing to capitalize on many chances.
Moving forward, Morocco and Argentina will be favorites against their Group B opponents Iraq and Ukraine. Victories for each team in their next matches will most likely seal their spot in the Round of 16.
Argentina will play against Ukraine on July 27, while Morocco takes on Iraq on the same day.
Reuters contributed to this report
