A Night of Riot at Buenos Aires’s Obelisk Following Argentina’s World Cup Final Loss to Spain

BUENOS AIRES — Spain claimed its second World Cup title on Sunday afternoon, defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time on a goal from Ferran Torres in the 106th minute. Within hours following the defeat in what is the likely the final showing for Lionel Messi with the Argentine shirt, clashes broke out between Argentines and riot police in central Buenos Aires, where crowds had gathered at the Obelisk — the monument that has long served as the city’s traditional gathering point for both championship celebrations and painful defeats.

The result completed an unbeaten run for Spain, which conceded just one goal across all eight matches in the tournament, winning the country’s first world cup trophy since 2010.

For Argentina, it marked the painful end of a campaign built around what looks to be Messi’s final World Cup appearance, closing out an era in which the captain had already delivered the country’s 2022 World Cup win in Qatar, along with Copa América wins in 2021 and 2024.

A Contentious Final

The match itself turned physical well before the final whistle. Argentina played an aggressive, disruptive style throughout, and tensions boiled over late in the game: midfielder Enzo Fernández was sent off in stoppage time of regulation for a reckless challenge that sent Spanish defender Pau Cubarsí tumbling, leaving Argentina to play the extra-time period a man down.

After the final whistle, Leandro Paredes charged at Spain’s Eric García and grabbed him by the neck, drawing in Barcelona winger Gavi before players from both sides and Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni separated the confrontation; Paredes was also shown a red card after the match. Argentina’s players reportedly turned their backs on their Spanish opponents during the trophy presentation, a breach of sportsmanship that drew criticism from commentators and viewers alike.

Clashes at the Obelisk

What began as a large but peaceful gathering at the Obelisk in the Argentine capital turned confrontational as the night wore on. Fans hurled rocks and glass bottles at riot police stationed around the monument; officers responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Images circulating from the scene showed debris scattered across downtown streets and, in one widely shared photo, a police officer appearing to kick a supporter who was on the ground.

Argentine police detained at least 15 people during the clashes, and multiple people were reported injured, though the extent of those injuries was not immediately known.

The scenes echoed a familiar pattern in Argentine football culture, where the Obelisk has been the site of both jubilant celebration — as after Argentina’s 2022 World Cup win over France — and unrest following painful losses.

The most direct historical parallel came in 2014, when Argentina’s extra-time final defeat to Germany, also decided by a single late goal, produced hours of clashes at the same monument, with dozens arrested and both police and civilians injured.

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A National Holiday for a Runner-Up

In an unusual move, President Javier Milei announced that Argentina would receive a national holiday to honor the team’s tournament run despite the runner-up finish, writing on social media that the exact date would be left to the players and coaching staff to decide. In a separate post, Milei thanked the squad for fighting until the final whistle, saying the team had kept Argentina “always at the top.”

The announcement triggered debate among Argentines, some of whom argued that a public holiday for a second-place finish was inappropriate and initially suspected the statement was a technical error, while others noted that many players would likely prefer to return quickly to their club seasons rather than participate in an extended celebration.

Argentina had also declared a national holiday after its 2022 title win, when the team paraded through Buenos Aires and gathered at the Obelisk to celebrate with fans under considerably different circumstances.