The wrong national anthem was played for Mauritania before the Mauritania-Gambia match. Then the players were allowed to try again, but this time without music. They were supposed to sing it themselves.
Only that was not entirely clear: incomprehension among players and staff of Mauritania. After the consternation, it was decided to play the national anthem of The Gambia.
Chaos in Mali-Tunisia
Earlier in the (Dutch) afternoon there was already chaos in Mali-Tunisia. First, the referee whistled five minutes early. He then allowed the game to continue after he was pointed out to his mistake.
A minute later, leader Sikazwe whistled again, this time fifteen seconds before the end of the official playing time. This while enough had happened – including two VAR moments and various substitutions – to let the game continue for a few more minutes. The Zambian wanted nothing to do with that. His final signal was final this time. Tunisia’s technical staff stormed the leader, who had to leave the field accompanied by some stewards.
The game would then resume with fifteen seconds and three minutes of stoppage time remaining. Strangely enough, the Tunisians did not show up for the last minutes and they missed a chance to turn the tide against ten Mali players.