Violence in Brussels after Morocco qualified for the World Cup final (photos)
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18 people were arrested in the Belgian capital, Brussels, on Thursday evening, during incidents that took place after Morocco's victory over Canada in the Qatar World Cup, a police spokeswoman announced.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Brussels, where a large Moroccan community lives, to celebrate their country's qualification for the final eight in the World Cup matches.
Belgium was eliminated from the same group competition.
And the violence followed Sunday, Morocco's victory over Belgium, in the center of the capital, Brussels, where small groups of young people clashed with the police and caused material damage, on the sidelines of spontaneous gatherings of Moroccan fans.
On Thursday evening, fans gathered again to celebrate the qualifiers, waving Moroccan flags and setting off fireworks.
A journalist from Agence France-Presse said that some of them formed human chains to avoid any chaos.
Police said they intervened in an area north of Brussels where "a group of about fifty people were disturbing passers-by".
A police spokeswoman said that "18 administrative arrests were carried out for disturbing public order," explaining that traffic in the city center resumed around 21:00, noting that "preventive patrols" were being conducted.
According to the Belgian news agency (Belga) that violence broke out in a number of neighborhoods in the city of Antwerp, where three policemen were injured and 35 people were arrested.
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Morocco,
Belgium,
World Cup 2022