Teenage boy killed amid clashes between France, Morocco fans after World Cup match

A teenager has been killed amid clashes that erupted between France and Morocco fans in the French city of Montpellier following the World Cup semifinal, local officials said in a statement.

Local officials said that the boy, 14, whose identity could not be verified, was “violently hit” by a car in the city, in the south of France on Wednesday. He was transferred to the hospital, but died shortly after arrival, a statement issued by the local government office in Montpellier said.

“A young boy was violently hit Wednesday night by a reckless driver,” said official Hugues Moutouh. “My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones,” he added.

“Immense sadness, a sporting event ends in absolute tragedy,” said Montpellier politician Nathalie Oziol, who confirmed the boy’s age and said he had been killed in the city’s Paillade neighborhood.

French media said the boy was hit by a car after someone tried to steal a French flag from the driver, which led to the car swerving in the direction of the crowd.

Several members of the crowd could not react in time and the teenager was sucked under the wheels, sustaining critical injuries.

Police is searching for the driver, who abandoned his vehicle close to the scene.

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France and Morocco fans had also clashed in Paris following the game. Heavy riots broke out in the aftermath of Morocco’s 0-2 defeat by France in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semifinal.

Around 2,200 officers, many of them equipped with riot gear, were stationed in Paris alone, with police vans and barricades lining the Champs-Elysees.

Scenes from the southern French cities of Montpellier and Nice saw fans fighting in the streets, launching flares at one another and setting fire to rubbish bins in the streets police brandished batons and used water cannons to quell the unrest.

There were also reports of violence in Belgium, with a group of around 100 supposed Morocco fans gathering near Brussels South station to launch fireworks and other projectiles at lines of police in riot gear – with police also firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.

French journalist Sihame Assbague said on Twitter that in Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier, extreme right-wing groups “attacked supporters of Morocco, sometimes with cries of ‘Arabs out’ and ‘France for the French.’”

À Lyon, Nice, Montpellier, et sûrement d’autres villes, des groupes d’ext-droite s’en sont pris à des supporters du Maroc, parfois aux cris de « dehors les Arabes » & « la France aux français ». Un déchaînement raciste, une chasse aux maghrébins comme ce pays en a tant connus.

— Sihame Assbague (@s_assbague) December 14, 2022

Morocco fans in France had been in a celebratory frenzy ever since their team went on its historic World Cup journey, becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the last four in the global showpiece event.

Deeply enmeshed by their colonial bonds and post-war flows of migrant labor from North Africa to France, the two nations share a history that has shaped their identities and their politics, and made for a sometimes edgy relationship.

France has a large population of citizens of Moroccan descent, as well as other former colonies in North Africa.

France will play Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday and the third-place playoff will be played between Morocco and Croatia on Saturday.

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