Fright night!

Argentina defeated Brazil 10 on Tuesday in an illtempered 2026 World Cup qualifying clash marred by prematch crowd trouble that forced kickoff to be delayedA 63rdminute header from defender Nicolas Otamendi secured victory for Argentina as the world champions bounced back from last weekrsquos defeat to UruguayThe win at Riorsquos iconic Maracana Stadium leaves Argentina on top of the South American qualifying standings with 15 points from six games Brazilrsquos third defeat of qualifying leaves them in sixth place with seven pointsAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 Players to impress most in the tournamentA profusely bleeding fan is removed by police officers after clashes involving Brazil and Argentine fansTempers had flared in the stands at the Maracana moments before kickoff with Brazilian police seen using batons to drive back a block of Argentine fans at one end of the ground Several Argentina players went towards the disturbances in an apparent attempt to plead for calm with goalkeeper Emi Martinez attempting to jump into the seating area at one stage to confront a batonwielding Brazilian police officerAlso ReadThe best and worsts of World Cup 2023Argentinarsquos players led by Lionel Messi then returned to their dressing room as the clashes continued ldquoItrsquos bad because we saw how they were beating people The police as it happened in the Libertadores final were once again repressing the people with night sticks there were players who had families over there We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down it could have ended in tragedyrdquo said an upset MessiBrazil skipper Marquinhos was unhappy too ldquoWe were worried about the families women and children seen in panic up there in the standsrdquo he saidArgentina skipper Lionel Messi centre with teammates after their 10 victory over Brazil on TuesdayThe 2022 World Cup winners reemerged onto the field shortly before 10pm local time and the match kicked off shortly afterwards roughly 30 minutes later than the scheduled start timeAfter a goalless first half Brazil were rocked when Argentina took the lead on 63 minutes Giovani Lo Celso swung in an inviting corner from the left and Otamendi 35 soared above Brazil midfielder Andre to head home for 10This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever