Fifa World Cup 2022: Wild scenes as Aussie fans watch defeat to Argentina

There were wild scenes in Sydney where a woman lost a chunk of hair after she was hit with a flare. Photo / Supplied

A woman at a Socceroos’ viewing party in Sydney was hit in the head with a flare and lost a chunk of her hair as wild scenes erupted in Australian capital cities.

News.com.au captured footage of the woman holding her head after flares were thrown into the crowd at Sydney’s Tumbalong Park.

Melbourne’s Federation Square was equally chaotic - it was heaving in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Fans once again flocked to public area outside Flinders Street Station to watch Australia’s round of 16 clash loss to Argentina and there were wild scenes hours before the game had even started.

There were wild scenes in Sydney where a woman lost a chunk of hair after she was hit with a flare. Photo / Supplied

Flares were being set off as thousands packed in to the site to watch the Socceroos’ date with history.

Lionel Messi’s men will face a quarterfinal against the Netherlands. A pair of costly errors from defender Aziz Behich and goalkeeper Mat Ryan were the decisive moments that put Graham Arnold’s underdogs behind by two goals.

Craig Goodwin gave Australia life with a deflected goal in the 76th minute - but late chances to Behich and Garang Kuol were denied by life-or-death defending by Argentina.

The missed opportunity will leave Australian football fans wondering what could have been for a very long time.

At 5.04am there was an official alert that Federation Square had reached capacity and any fans planning to head down were instructed to head to AAMI Park instead.

ALERT: Fed Square has reached capacity. If you are heading to Fed Square, please make your way to @AAMIPark #FIFAWorldCup #allforthesocceroos #giveit100

— Fed Square (@FedSquare) December 3, 2022

And we have fire, an hour before kick off! pic.twitter.com/9Io1YbLfls

— Eli (@ElMengem) December 3, 2022

Police have their work cut out today. People already coming out looking like maybe they’ve been injured by flares rubbing eyes and holding their heads #FedSquare #Socceroos @abcnews pic.twitter.com/jK0WwjhylU

— Emma Pedler (@EmmaPeds) December 3, 2022

Pictures from the venue after the 2-1 loss to Argentina showed a huge mess left behind by the packed crowd.

Before the match, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announced that AAMI Park would be open from 5am, entry will be free and punters will be able to watch on the big screen from the grandstands.

“This Sunday will see thousands of football fans again descend on Melbourne’s CBD, so we’re making more live sites available for football fans to watch the Socceroos’ historic World Cup match against Argentina,” Andrews said.

“This is Australia’s best-ever World Cup performance, and we’re making sure as many people as possible can enjoy the action and cheer on our side as it takes the field in Qatar.”