Dozens of people were arrested in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam for rioting in the streets after Morocco's victory over Portugal in the World Cup quarterfinals, and the subsequent qualification of the Moroccan team to the semifinals, something that no African team had achieved until now.
In Paris, some 20,000 people celebrated Morocco's victory on the Champs-Élysées, and some riots broke out in that same area and its adjacent streets.
A strong police device was deployed around the place and after some altercations, such as the burning of two motorcycles in the streets adjacent to the tourist avenue des Champs-Élysées, a total of 42 people were arrested in the French capital.
For its part, in Brussels, where there had already been some incidents in the previous matches of the Moroccan team in the Qatar World Cup, there were also altercations and the police arrested a dozen people.
According to the newspaper Le Soir, dozens of hooded youths threw objects at police officers in the Belgian capital, who responded with tear gas.
However, according to police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere, "there was no significant damage." The police presence was strong in the center of the city with a view to avoiding riots and some metro entrances had been closed and bus lines diverted as preventive measures.
In the main cities of the Netherlands, fans also took to the streets to celebrate Morocco's victory under a certain "tension" and strong police presence.
There were riots in several places in Amsterdam, according to the police, who at around 8:00 p.m. issued an emergency order to evacuate several streets and ended up deploying a water cannon and making several arrests, reported the public channel NOS.
In cities such as Rotterdam, access to the center was cut off due to the crowds, according to that medium, which indicates the launch of fireworks but without disturbances.
In The Hague, on the other hand, there were fireworks launched against the police and the evacuation of some streets was ordered.
