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Moroccan Soccer Fans Suffocate NFL Stadium In A Giant Cloud Of Smoke From Flares At Club World Cup

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Wydad Flares Smoke Soccer Club World Cup
ยฉ Caean Couto-Imagn Images
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Although most of America does not seem to care about the Club World Cup, the same cannot be said for international teams like Wydad. Supporters of the Morocco-based club caused a lengthy stoppage in play because they set off so many flares at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and suffocated the NFL stadium in a massive cloud of smoke.

It was scenes unlike you have ever seen from soccer in the United States.

Wydad Athletic Club, known to outsiders as Wydad Casblanca, is one of only three clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight of the Moroccan professional soccer system. On a domestic level, Wydad owns a record 22 league titles. It also won three CAF Champions Leagues and multiple African-focused tournaments as the most-titled club in the country. They’re legit.

Even though Juventus put a 4-1 beatdown on Wydad during the final match of the group stage at the Club World Cup, the supporters were just as rowdy in defeat as in victory. They started the party more than three hours prior to kickoff in the same parking lot where Eagles fans tailgate in the fall. Flares were already out in full force.

Wydad did not score a single goal during its first three matches of the tournament so it was a huge deal when Thembinkosi Lorch finally found the net in the 25th minute on Sunday. Smoke from the celebratory flares immediately turned the air to red and black.

You could hardly see the crowd as soon as smoke from the first flare took to the sky.

Visibility dwindled even further with every second that passed. The stadium legitimately looked like it caught fire from the lower bowl.

You could not ask for a better atmosphere.

Wydad Flares Smoke Soccer Club World Cup
ยฉ Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images

As cool as it was to see, the flares became a hazard for both players and fans. Officials put a pause on the match in the 26th minute to allow the smoke to clear.

You might wonder how the Wydad fans got so many flares past security and into the game! First and foremost, I am not entirely sure that Philadelphia’s security team knows to check for flares or how. And if they did at least try to stop them, it won’t matter anyway. Wydad gets very creative!

Club World Cup attendance has been largely underwhelming at most of the group stage matches. That is not true about the international supporters who made the trip. Wydad is just the latest example. It’s so cool!

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