Watch: During the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying match, an Argentine star spits at Brazil fans

In a tense 2026 World Cup qualifying match, Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 on Tuesday. Pre-match crowd unrest caused the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to delay kickoff. Argentina’s offensive midfielder Angel Di Maria was seen spitting at Brazil supporters in a game footage that has gone viral on social media after they hurled drinks over him and his colleagues. The incident happened when the Argentina team were going through the stadium tunnel.

Argentina defeated their fierce South American opponents thanks to a header in the 63rd minute from seasoned defender Nicolas Otamendi. The world champions had recovered from their loss to Uruguay the previous week.

Argentina leads the South American qualification standings after winning at Rio’s storied Maracana Stadium, having collected 15 points from six games. Meanwhile, Brazil’s third loss in the qualifying round drops the five-time world champions to sixth place after six games played with seven points. After the game, Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina, said, “This group continues to achieve historic things.” “Maybe today wasn’t the most important thing, but it was a nice win.”

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Moments before kickoff, there had been a fight in the Maracana bleachers, with Brazilian police being spotted at one end of the stadium using batons to drive back a group of Argentine fans.

A number of Argentina players approached the commotion in what appeared to be an attempt to settle things down. At one point, goalkeeper Emi Martinez attempted to leap into the seating area to face a Brazilian police officer with a baton. As the altercations persisted, Messi’s Argentina team went back to the locker room, seemingly uttering the words “We’re not playing, we’re leaving.” Later on, Messi clarified that he had removed his teammates from the pitch in an effort to calm things down.

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“We went to the locker room because it was a way to calm everything down a little,” Messi stated. “We went to check on our families and other loved ones. After that, we returned.” After a delay of around half an hour from the originally scheduled start time, the 2022 World Cup victors returned to the field just before 10 p.m. local time.

When play eventually resumed, the fervent pre-match atmosphere carried over onto the field, with Gabriel Jesus, an Arsenal striker from Brazil, receiving a yellow card just five minutes after colliding with Rodrigo De Paul of Argentina.