Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez and Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur were just three of the players involved in a mass brawl during Argentina’s World Cup qualifying clash against Uruguay on Friday.
All three players were named in their respective starting line-ups for the South American nations and played the full 90 minutes as Argentina came out as 1-0 away winners. Thiago Almada’s 68th minute goal was the difference between the two sides.
The win means that the reigning World Champions are on the verge of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Argentina need just one more point from their remaining five games to seal their place in the finals of the tournament.
The game did however see tempers flare. Argentina were reduced to 10-men in stoppage time when second-half substitute Nicolas Gonzalez was shown a straight red card after catching Nahitan Nandez in the face with a high boot.
But it was earlier in the game where a mass confrontation occurred between the two teams. Videos show Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez on the floor having been on the end of a strong challenge from an Argentina player.
Uruguay players were clearly unhappy with the challenge and began to argue with Romero. Fernandez quickly gets involved in defending his teammate and appears to clash with another Tottenham player in Bentancur.
Most players from both teams appear to get involved in the pushing and shoving with acting as peacemakers. Despite the confrontation neither Fernandez or Bentancur were punished for the incident.
Argentina are back in action in the early hours of Wednesday morning when they take on rivals Brazil in a World Cup qualifier. Uruguay travel to take on Bolivia on Tuesday evening.
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