Moroccan community celebrations after Morocco semi-final win in The Hague. / Ph. / District8 ‹ › After Morocco's historic qualification for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, celebrations erupted in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Wednesday night, prompting police intervention. According to local media, following a tense penalty shootout victory, dozens of supporters gathered spontaneously in the streets of the Schilderswijk district, waving Moroccan flags and honking car horns. The atmosphere remained festive until around 1:00 a.m., when fireworks were thrown among the crowd and toward police officers. Police, who had been deployed as a preventive measure to ensure public safety and keep traffic flowing, intervened as tensions escalated. Riot police charged to disperse groups of young people, and calm was restored to the neighborhood by around 2:00 a.m. Authorities announced that police will again be on standby on Sunday evening, when Morocco face Senegal in the AFCON final. More broadly, celebrations by Moroccan communities abroad were reported in several countries following Morocco's quarter-final victory over Cameroon, which secured the Atlas Lions' place in the final. In France, however, Moroccan fans faced strict restrictions and, in some cases, fines for celebrating with national symbols.
