A police officer was hospitalized on Thursday night in London as Moroccans vented their fury at losing to France in the World Cup quarter-final. Riot police were deployed to the Edgware Road after Moroccans set off fireworks and chucked debris at officers. Police arrested four people for “violent disorder.”
There was also tension overnight in several Dutch cities, although the rioting wasn’t as bad as a fortnight ago when Morocco beat Holland in the World Cup. On that occasion police subdued hooligans with a water cannon and numerous arrests were made.
There were also ugly confrontations in Toulouse last weekend when Moroccan fans celebrated beating Canada by attacking police officers. Last night was generally calm in France, perhaps because more than 20,000 police and gendarmes were stationed in Paris and other major cities.
The thuggery hasn’t just been limited to Moroccans. Last week in London, Egyptian fans battled police and climbed onto buses after their side’s World Cup victory against Australia.
The emergence of this new football hooliganism in London shouldn’t come as a surprise. It has been present in France for years; when Algeria were eliminated from the 2014 World Cup their supporters clashed with police across France, as they did in 2019, 2024 and in January this year during the annual Africa Cup of Nations.
This year there was trouble in Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille and Nice as Algerians reacted badly to losing to Nigeria in the quarter-final.
Algerian fans behaved themselves during the World Cup; their team was so dismal it was hard to get worked up, and also their three pool matches were all in the early hours of the European morning.
There was a time when football hooliganism was known in Europe as “the English disease.” In the 1980s, followers of the England soccer team caused trouble wherever they went and brought shame on the country. Those days are long gone. England fans, in America and at home, have behaved impeccably in the last month.
A decade ago the English disease appeared to have been transmitted to Russian soccer fans. During the 2016 Euros, Russian hooligans caused mayhem in several French cities, particularly targeting English supporters. As one Russian hooligan boasted: “In the 1970s and 1980s everyone would bow down before the English. Now there are different hooligans. These are different times.”
Ten years on and Russian hooligans have been replaced by North African thugs. There is a difference. The English hooligans of the 1980s and the Russian ones of the 2010s traveled to tournaments to fight; the North African hooligans of the 2020s look for trouble on the streets of their adopted country.
It is Europe that bears the brunt of North African rage
Apart from a minor scuffle between Algerian and Argentine fans in Times Square, there has been no hooligan violence in America during the last month. Similarly, in Morocco, the atmosphere has been one of pride and delight at their team’s run to the quarter-final.
It is Europe that bears the brunt of North African rage. This is because the riots are not really about soccer. It is Islamic nationalism. Last week, Egyptian fans fighting police in London did so chanting “Free Palestine,” as did Moroccans in Brussels, and the Palestinian flag was seen last night on the Edgware Road. According to Dutch reports, Moroccan fans in The Hague last night were heard chanting “Hamas, Hamas, all Jews to the gas.”
The English hooligan of the 1980s was a thuggish nationalist, draped in the flag of St. George and despising all Johnny Foreigners. Today’s football hooligan is draped in the flag of Palestine and despises all Jews.
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