On Monday, one day before their group stage match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, soccer fans from Argentina and Algeria got into a scuffle while cheering in the heart of New York’s Times Square.
According to TMZ, hundreds of Argentine and Algerian soccer fans who had gathered in the heart of Midtown Manhattan that day began cheering for their national teams, but the atmosphere soon turned into one of taunting the opposing side.
The heated fans from both countries soon came to blows. A video shared by the French media outlet BRUT shows about 10 men from each side, wearing their national team jerseys, exchanging blows with their bare fists.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), which was dispatched to the scene, separated the two groups and arrested one person. It remains unclear who started the altercation.
Argentina and Algeria, both members of Group J in the FIFA World Cup, are scheduled to play their group stage match on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. (ET) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Argentina, which has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the FIFA rankings, is aiming for a second consecutive World Cup title following its victory at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.