Trouble in Paris: Police Crack Down on French Fans Angry Over their World Cup Final Penalty Loss

Armed police used tear gas on the streets of Paris tonight after disorder broke out following the World Cup defeat to Argentina.

Football fans descended en masse to the streets of the country's biggest cities Paris, Lyon and Nice after the game.

Officers quelled a disturbance in the Champs-Elysees as flares were ignited and fireworks went off, The Sun reports.

Meanwhile, similar scenes played out in Madrid, the capital of Spain, as jubilant Argentinian fans flooded the streets in celebration. 

Pictures showed a huge crowd of fans in white and blue in the city's main square, drinking in the atmosphere after their team bested France.

However, some clashes broke out with police, with photographs showing armed officers beating supporters with batons. One man was seen being ushered away.

Around 14,000 police officers went out duty across France tonight to guarantee security as Les Bleus took on Argentina in the World Cup final, officials said Friday. 

The Parisian security operation, presented to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin publicly on Friday, saw a concentration of forces in Paris, where huge crowds were expected in the event of victory.

The Champs-Elysees avenue was the scene of vast celebrations during France's previous World Cup triumphs in 1998 and 2018, with 600,000 people cheering and dancing there four years ago. The avenue was closed to traffic on Sunday and 2,750 officers were stationed in the vicinity.