World Cup match brought to a halt as protesters invade pitch and wrestled to ground | Football | Sport

Belgium’s round-of-32 match with Senegal was brought to a halt midway through the first half when protesters ran on the pitch at Lumen Field in Seattle. Senegal were 1-0 up at the time of the interruption, with several people evading the stadium’s security staff to gain entry to the pitch.

They were able to run around for a few seconds before security responded and eventually escorted them off the pitch. It’s the most high-profile example of people invading the pitch at this summer’s World Cup, but there have been other examples during the tournament.

Speaking on ITV’s broadcast of the match, Sam Matterface remarked: “We’ve got a social media prank which is going to cause a halt in play, and it is quite a dangerous situation because there are three or four young gentlemen who have decided to encroach on the pitch.

“They have been wrestled now, two of the three have. The third has evaded security staff, who are trying desperately to get hold of him. And eventually the protesters are removed.”

Before adding: “It has created yet another interruption. We haven’t had too many of those at the World Cup. We had several didn’t we at the Euros a couple of years ago, people coming on desperate to get selfies with big-name players.”

One of the moments Matterface was referencing occurred during a Portugal match when a young fan ran onto the pitch and snapped a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the interruption to the Belgium vs Senegal clash isn’t the only pitch invasion from this summer’s World Cup so far.

A fan breached the barriers during Iran’s clash with Egypt during the pair’s final match of the group stage, but only just made it onto the pitch before being tackled to the ground. That match was also played at Lumen Field in Seattle, with tensions having been heightened before kick-off due to the publicity surrounding Iran’s ongoing conflict with the United States.

Earlier in the tournament, a fan had attempted to gain access to the pitch during the USA’s clash with Paraguay, while in the latter’s match against Turkey, another member of the crowd was snapped pitchside. Elsewhere, a supporter got close to Neymar following full-time in the Brazil vs Japan round-of-32 tie in Houston.