England, Wales fans brawl before World Cup clash

England and Wales will face each other on Tuesday night in their Group B match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Days before the big game, fans of both sides came to blows in the streets of Tenerife, Spain.

Even though they are thousands of miles away from Qatar, World Cup fever has hit over-zealous fans living in Spain. They are also far from England and Wales, but the two groups still managed to find each other and ignite a fight. The hooligans clashed in Playa de Americas, where fans from both sides threw punches, kicks and even chairs at each other. According to a report from Marca, police did not respond quickly enough to be able to make any arrests.

The match on Tuesday will prove to be crucial, with both teams in danger of missing out on the knockout stage. It will be the final matchday for Group B, with two out of four teams set to earn qualification.

England currently leads the group with 4 points, but they are still far from being safely through. However, Wales are at the bottom of the group after having only collected one point so far, meaning they have a bigger mountain to climb if they wish to advance. However, their group is still wide open, with Iran currently sitting in second place with three points. The USA, meanwhile, have two points in third place.

England and Wales have a bitter rivalry despite both being from the United Kingdom. In fact, the Prince of Wales, who is also the president of the English Football Association, is being criticised for the "conflict of interest" especially since both sides were drawn together in the same group in the World Cup.

Elsewhere, clashes are also taking place between fans of other rival teams. Argentina and Mexico fans have been clashing in the streets of Qatar and even inside the Lusail stadium itself before the two teams faced each other over the weekend.

Many fans were seen injured and bloody as they were being led out of the venue. The match ended in favour of Argentina, 2-0.