Rival Argentina and Mexico fans came to blows in Qatar on Wednesday night after chants of "f*** Messi" were heard.
Video footage of the incident captured a brief fight between the rival sets of fans, clad in their nation's kits, at the Al Bidda Park in Doha - one of FIFA's fan zones in the Qatari capital, which is designed to encourage different teams coming together to mingle.
The ugly scenes came just a day after Argentina suffered a shock World Cup defeat by Saudi Arabia to open their campaign, despite being among the favourites for the competition. Messi opened the scoring for the South American nation from the penalty spot after a highly contentious spot-kick decision but his side were stunned by two second-half goals.
Several individuals are said to have suffered minor injuries in the scrap.
Quickfire strikes from Salah Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari at the start of the second half turned the game on its head as Saudi Arabia scored with each of their only two shots on target in the match and Argentina entirely lost their composure.
Argentina's next match sees Lionel Scaloni's side face Mexico, who were held to a goalless draw in their opening game against Poland. Group C is now firmly in the balance with all four sides believing they have an opportunity to advance to the Round of 16 after the opening set of results.
Saturday night's clash between Argentina and Mexico is likely to be crucial for both sides, with a defeat for either leaving them on the brink of elimination with one full round of games remaining – while a win could potentially transform their tournaments. The tensions were on show on Wednesday night with unsavoury scenes between groups of fans.
While the episode of violence was an isolated incident, it was an indicator of a degree of tension ahead of the clash. A group of Mexico fans broke out into the chant of "f*** Messi", leading to clashes between supporters.
Have Your Say! Will Messi and Argentina be able to bounce back from their shock defeat vs Saudi Arabia? Tell us what you think here.
Messi – competing in his last World Cup – lamented to reporters after his side's defeat by Saudi Arabia: "In five minutes of errors we lost the lead and found ourselves 1-2 down. We messed up, we threw crosses into the box and the game became a little complicated. I had never suffered such a hard blow with this group of players. Things happen for a reason. Now, obviously, we have to win or win (to get through the group)."
Argentina's opening defeat – ending their run of 36 matches unbeaten – will go down as one of the biggest shocks in the history of the World Cup and on a par with Argentina's defeat by Cameroon in their opening clash of the 1990 World Cup.
