Argentina’s equaliser against Morocco in the 16th minute of added time at the Olympics was ruled out by VAR over an hour after the game had finished.
2024 Olympics
1-2
Match Report
Cristián Medina’s injury-time equaliser was ruled out by the referee after fan disturbance had caused players from both teams to leave the field.
The men’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Olympics has got off to an chaotic start after Argentina’s match against Morocco in Saint-Étienne was suspended for hour, restarting with a VAR check which cost the South Americans an equaliser and gave the North Africans an opening group stage win.
Morocco were leading 2-1 going into injury time, of which there was an incredible 15 minutes. Even so, it took until the 16th extra minute for Cristián Medina to snatch what appeared to be a dramatic equaliser, which prompted some Moroccan fans to try to invade the field, while others threw objects from the stands.
The Argentine players retreated to the dressing room, with most assuming the full-time whistle had been blown. However, it was later revealed the match officials had been intending to play a few additional minutes and then game had instead been “interrupted,” as stated on the Olympics website.
After around one hour and 20 minutes, the game restarted with a VAR check on Medina’s goal, which was ultimately ruled out for offside, handing Morocco a hugely controversial victory. Surely the longest VAR check in history?
Line-ups
Argentina U23 XI: Otamendi, Gerónimo Rulli, Thiago Almada, Julián Álvarez, Cristian Medina, Lucas Beltrán, Joaquín García, Santiago Hezze, Kevin Zenón, Marco Di Césare, Julio Soler
Subs: Bruno Amione, Ezequiel Fernández, Leandro Brey, Luciano Gondou, Giuliano Simeone, Gonzalo Luján, Claudio Echeverri
Morocco U23 XI: Munir, Hakimi, Oussama El Azzouzi, Soufiane Rahimi, Oussama Targhalline, Ilias Akhomach, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Amir Richardson, Mehdi Boukamir, Bilal El Khannouss, Eliesse Ben Seghir
Subs: Yassine Kechta, Akram Nakach, Abde Ezzalzouli, Benjamin Bouchouari, Adil Tahif, Marouane Zila, Rachid Ghanimi