• Source:JND
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Argentina vs Brazil FIFA World Cup 2026 CONMEBOL Qualifiers: The Argentina vs Brazil FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying match witnessed unusual scenes at the Maracana Stadium on Wednesday, November 22 as Lionel Messi decided to walk off the pitch with his teammates.

The match was temporarily stopped and had a delayed start after a fight broke out between the fans of both teams in the stands.

Brazilian police was seen attacking the away fans in order to separate the brawl as they hit them with batons and sticks.

As soon as the national anthems concluded during which the Argentinian team was booed, there was some movement seen in the stands.

Argentina players made their way to the crowd area to try and help restore calm, with goalkeeper Emi Martinez getting involved in an altercation with a police officer.

Several fans were seen in tears as the collision with police took place

Lionel Messi was then seen urging his players to walk off the field and head back to the dressing room as they denied playing in such conditions.

"We're leaving. We can’t play in these circumstances,” Messi reportedly said.

The match was scheduled to start at 6:00 AM IST but was delayed by 30 minutes as players came back on the pitch to resume the proceedings.

In the first half, Messi and Brazil's Rodrygo were seen having a heated argument before Marquinhos pushed his teammate away.

Argentina headed into the high-voltage clash being at the top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table with a five-point lead over fifth-placed Brazil.

It marks the first time Lionel Messi has faced his nation's rivals since winning the World Cup in Qatar.

The last time the rival teams faced each other was in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign in November 2021. However, the match was suspended after five minutes due to the COVID-19 threat.

Talking about the match, the scoreline remained 0-0 at half-time with Brazil having three players given the yellow car


Starting lineups:

Brazil: Alisson Becker (gk); Aparecido, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Carlos Augusto; Andre Neto, Bruno Guimaraes; Raphinha, Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez (gk); Marcos Acuna, Nicolas Otamedi, Cristian Romero, Nahuel Molina; Alexis Mac Allister, Rodrigo de Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Giovani Lo Celso; Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi

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