Dutch police have arrested at least 33 people across several cities after celebrations of Morocco’s World Cup victory over Canada spilled over into a night of unrest, in a near-repeat of scenes days earlier when Morocco eliminated the Netherlands.
Most of the arrests came in The Hague, where riot officers deployed water cannon to clear crowds in the Schilderswijk district. Police detained 29 people there and reported two officers and a traffic warden injured.
The two officers were hurt after being targeted with powerful fireworks, according to the Dutch police. Glass, eggs, stones and flares were also thrown at them during the disturbances.
A further four people were arrested in Rotterdam, Leiden, Utrecht and Tilburg, where officers intervened to break up crowds. Celebrations in Amsterdam ended without serious incident.
Police had moved in after the mayor of The Hague issued an emergency order barring anyone seeking to disturb public order from the area. Calm returned shortly after midnight and roads were reopened.
Morocco beat Canada 3-0 in the last-16 tie, played in the United States, to reach the quarter-finals of a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The result drew large crowds into Dutch streets, with supporters waving Moroccan flags, sounding car horns and setting off fireworks. Authorities had closed several streets as a precaution, including in the Schilderswijk.
Across most of the country the mood was festive rather than violent. Crowds gathered in Amsterdam and other cities without major trouble, with police reporting only scattered incidents before the celebrations dispersed.
Unrest around Morocco’s football celebrations in the district has become a recurring feature during major tournaments, with trouble flaring there in previous years. The same pattern followed the team’s win over the Netherlands, decided on penalties in the last 32.
That earlier match prompted around 17 arrests in The Hague and Rotterdam, as officers came under attack from fireworks and stones and a water cannon was again used to clear revellers. The Netherlands, one of the pre-tournament favourites, made its earliest World Cup exit in years.
Morocco, one of the standout sides at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has carried strong domestic support into this year’s edition. Its progress to the quarter-finals has been widely celebrated among the sizeable Moroccan diaspora in the Netherlands and elsewhere in western Europe.
The Dutch police said violence against officers and emergency workers was unacceptable, adding that suspects would be prioritised for prosecution. Prosecutors generally sought sentences three times higher for such offences, it said.
