Why was kick-off delayed in the Brazil vs Argentina U-17 World Cup quarter-final game?

For the second time in a matter of days, the kick-off of a Brazil vs Argentina match had to be put back, with the quarter-final meeting between the two nations at the Under-17 World Cup suffering the same fate as the CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 qualifier.

Messi intervenes as violent scenes overshadow World Cup 2026 qualifier

Tuesday’s full international in Rio de Janeiro, which was won 1-0 by the world champions, was marred by ugly scenes in the stands in the run-up to kick-off. Scuffles between rival fans, some of whom were seated next to each other at the Maracanã, were followed by baton-wielding Brazilian police charging at Argentine supporters, some of whom were left battered, bloodied and bruised.

The disturbances took place before and as the teams emerged from the tunnel, with Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi and his teammates going over to affected section of the stadium in an effort to defuse the situation. The Inter Miami star later revealed players were worried family members had been caught up in the trouble and that he didn’t want the game to go ahead, with Argentina returning to the dressing room as order was restored.

As a result, kick-off was delayed by around 30 minutes, with the Under-17 World Cup clash between the two teams suffering the exact same fate less than three days later.

U-17 World Cup quarter-final delayed due to bad weather

Thankfully, on this occasion, violence in the stadium was not the culprit. Heavily rainfall in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and left a considerable amount of standing water on sections of the field at Jakarta International Stadium, which had also hosted Germany’s victory over Spain a short time earlier.

The heavens opened after the first quarter-final, with ground staff forced to look out their brushes and remove the water from the field so that play could get underway, which happened approximately half-an-hour later than planned.

Brazil are the defending U-17 World Cup champions and have won the tournament on four previous occasions, while Argentina area chasing their first victory at that level.