France vs Tunisia became the second match at the World Cup finals in Qatar to be halted by a pitch invader.
Monday night’s encounter between Portugal and Uruguay at the Lusail Stadium was the first, as Mario Ferri made his was onto the field of play. The Italian ran across the pitch with a rainbow flag and wearing a t-shirt which had on it two messages; 'Save Ukraine ' and 'Respect For Iranian Women'.
And in the 68th minute of France’s Group C finale on Wednesday afternoon, a pitch invader, wearing a Tunisia shirt and carrying a Palestine flag, ran onto the field, performing a cartwheel and backflip near the halfway line, before being apprehended by security officials and carried away.
The crowd in attendance at the Education City stadium in Al Rayyan chanted “Palestine” as the man was led away.
Veteran Tunisia defender Ali Maâloul sought to check on the man's condition as he was lifted from the ground and forcibly dragged off the playing field while players on the sidelines appeared to show concern for the pitch invader too.
One substitute was seen being pushed away by the security group of seven people.
On the field, the game ended 1-0 to Tunisia, as they shocked the reigning world champions. Ex-Sunderland man Wahbi Khazri opened the scoring in the 58th minute and that proved enough to hand the African nation a historic win - albeit after a controversial finale.
The reigning world champions thought they had landed a 98th minute equaliser when Antoine Griezmann volleyed home, only for VAR to intervene and the referee to rule out the goal for offside.
However, it wasn't enough for Tunisia to secure a place in the knockout rounds after Denmark were beaten 1-0 by Australia in the group's other game.
Ferri, who has made a history of pitch invasions, spoke out on Tuesday following his interruption during the Portugal fixture the previous night. In a statement on Instagram, he slammed FIFA and declared his support for the people of Iran and Ukraine.
"I’M BACK. I’ll call it “THE LAST DANCE” my last run in a playing field, I wanted to send some IMPORTANT messages to me that I’ve lived on my skin in the past months," Ferri's statement began.
"1) A message for Iran where I have friends who are suffering, where women are not respected... THE WORLD MUST CHANGE, we can do it together with STRONG gestures, that come from the heart, WITH COURAGE.
"2) FIFA banned rainbow captains bands and human rights flags on the stands, they blocked everyone, BUT NOT ME, like a Robinhood 2.0 I brought the message of the PEOPLE We want a free world that laughs f**** all races and all the ideas.
"3) SAVE THE UKRAINE. I spent a month at the war in Kiev as a volunteer and saw how much that people were suffering. WE WANT PEACE UK️ IN UKRAINE, GLORY TO UKRAINE. Thank you for all the messages of love that I receive from the world, from Iran and Ukraine. Breaking the rules if done for a good cause is NEVER A CRIME."
