UPDATE: The match has officially been suspended and a final decision will be made about the outcome. EiF Soccer has a helpful Twitter thread explaining the situation.
Brazil and Argentina are all but certain to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, but their qualifying match on Sunday resulted in significant chaos. Brazilian police came on the field seven minutes into the match and detained four players on the Argentinian side. They allegedly failed to disclose they are based in Britain and thus were breaking COVID-19 protocols with their arrival in Brazil.
The four players, per Roger Bennett, were were Cristian Romero and Gio Lo Celso (both Tottenham Hotspur) and Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia (both Aston Villa).
This is the eighth match on the schedule for both teams. Brazil is 7-0-0 and in first place with 21 points, while Argentina is 4-3-0 and in second place 15 points. Ecuador and Uruguay round out the top four qualifying spots with 12 and 9 points, respectively.
Surreal: Brazil v Argentina stopped inside 7 mins by Brazilian Federal Police walking on field to detain 4 Argentinian Premier League players who failed to disclose they are based in Britain, breaking COVID protocols upon entering Brazil. Chaos ensued pic.twitter.com/ANG5L61SaK
— roger bennett (@rogbennett) September 5, 2021