Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay) and Cristian Romero (Argentina), who are teammates at Tottenham, faced off fiercely in the national team match.
The two players started in the match between Uruguay and Argentina at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the 22nd, during the 13th round of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup South American qualifiers, and played the full match.
The result ended with Argentina winning 1-0.
It was a tense match between the two teams. From the beginning, both teams clashed roughly, and tensions between the players erupted. In the first half, there were instances of shirt grabbing, and in the added time of the second half, Argentina's Nicolás González received a red card for hitting an opponent in the face.
Bentancur and Romero eventually expressed their emotions towards each other. Although they were teammates in the English Premier League (EPL) until before the match, they turned into rivals during the game.
British media 'Football London' reported, "The two players initially played the role of mediators by trying to stop the fight, but over time, they expressed dissatisfaction with each other and eventually engaged in fierce tension," and released a video featuring scenes of both players pushing each other's necks amid a collective scuffle between the teams.
Despite belonging to the same club, the two players displayed an attitude of not backing down in a match for their countries.
With this victory, Argentina is essentially on the brink of qualifying for the finals. They are leading the South American qualifiers with 9 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses for a total of 28 points, and only need to add 1 point from the remaining 5 matches to secure their spot in the finals.
Romero will return to Tottenham after the match against Brazil on the 26th, and Bentancur will return after the match against Bolivia on the 25th. The two, who shared intense emotions both inside and outside the stadium, will soon become teammates again at Tottenham.
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