Argentina's men's national soccer team experienced a drama-filled encounter against Morocco in the 1st round of the men's group stage Group B match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to Argentine media outlet TyC Sports.
In the 106th minute of the match, Argentina scored an equalizing goal, but then players from both sides retired, believing that the match was over. However, the IOC members confirmed that the match was not actually over, expressing their desire for the match to continue and play out the final minutes. The Argentine and Moroccan teams, with the approval of FIFA, initially refused to take the field again.
After a 40-minute stalemate, the authorities forced both teams to warm up and wait for the referee to check Argentina's equalizing goal via VAR. According to the rules at the time, if the goal was not offside, the match ended 2-2; if it was offside, the game would continue for a few more minutes.
Eventually, VAR confirmed that Argentina's goal was disallowed for offside. The match resumed after a two-hour break and was replayed for three minutes without fans or broadcast. In the end, Argentina failed to equalize and went down 1-2 to Morocco.
The match was full of controversy and drama, not only because of the VAR decision, but also because it was restarted after a 2-hour interruption, putting fans and players alike through an unexpected ordeal. Argentina will face Iraq in their next match, while Morocco will take on Ukraine.
