Chaos peaked and took center stage at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami before Lionel Messi or James Rodriguez could grace the field for the Copa America final. Viral footages from the stadium show thousands of Colombia and Argentina fans breaking into the stadium without tickets to watch the final. Police and security personnel intervened to keep the crowd at bay, while many including children in the mob sustained injuries due to crowding. Argentina fans are quite unhappy at the mayhem that has transpired and they doubt if the US could host the upcoming World Cup since the Copa has gone this awry.

In a video shared by CentreGoals on X, two Argentina fans could be seen relentlessly complaining against the Copa organizers after the chaos delayed the final kick-off by more than an hour. “They can’t organize a World Cup,” said the frustrated Argentina fans, referring to the US-based organizers.

This is not the first time this Copa tournament has witnessed fan involvement get out of hand. During the Colombia-Uruguay semi-final, Colombian fans attacked Uruguay players’ families, forcing Darwin Nunez and others to fight back against them. Even tonight, a Colombian fan was bloodied by the police after invading the Hard Rock Stadium. What’s worse? The Argentina players had to get out of their locker room to help their families who got stuck in the mammoth crowd.

Argentina players’ families get helpless in the crowd at the Copa America final

Per various reports, Alejandro Garanacho, Alexis Mac Allister, and Enzo Fernandez’s families got stuck outside the Hard Rock Stadium, struggling to enter and watch the Copa final. Mac Allister and Fernandez reportedly went outside their locker room and tried to help their families navigate the raucous crowd. Courtesy of these bizarre scenes in Florida, the Argentina-Colombia game kicked off an hour and 15 minutes later than the original schedule.

These incidents will surely put the organizers in intense negative light once again. Canada’s coach Jesse Marsch has blasted this Copa tournament by saying its organizers were biased against CONCACAF teams. Meanwhile, Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa blasted US stadiums’ pitch conditions and also questioned the authorities for letting fan involvement go berserk during the semi-finals. He defended his players as they suffered threats to their families at Colombia fans’ hands. Now that a similar situation has transpired in the final, the American organizers’ effectiveness in organizing mega events raises eyebrows.