World Cup soccer matches have sparked armed clashes between fans in Lebanon, with at least six injuries reported on Monday evening.
Lebanon itself has never qualified to play in the World Cup tournament, so its soccer fans adopt various foreign teams as their own, festooning buildings and vehicles with their flags and colors. Lebanese factions nursing grievances from the 1975-1990 civil war are prone to using these soccer rivalries as an excuse for violence, with some fatalities reported over the years. Lebanon’s domestic soccer scene also has a tendency to produce violent conflicts as team loyalties overlap with factional affiliations.
The two most popular teams in Lebanon are Brazil and Germany. Brazil has a sizable population of Lebanese immigrants, whose friends and family back in Lebanon tend to be enthusiastic supporters of Brazilian soccer.
According to a report at The National, there was a “confrontation” in the village of Wadi Jilo on Monday night after Brazil won its match against Japan with a spectacular late-game goal, making the score 2-1. The confrontation began as a verbal dispute, escalated to “physical confrontation,” and ended with gunfire.
The gunshots were exceptionally alarming to local residents due to Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. As of press time, local officials did not say if any of the six injuries were due to gunshot wounds, or if any of the injuries were life-threatening.