A teenager has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at Federation Square on Saturday morning, as thousands gathered to watch Australia\u2019s second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. <\/p>\n
Thousands of fans were seen lining up before 4am in Melbourne for the public viewing of Australia\u2019s second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cupbefore the Socceroos were defeated 2-0 in Seattle.<\/p>\n
Victoria Police confirmed about 7500 supporters were stationed at Federation Square and about 8900 attended AAMI Park to watch the game. <\/p>\n
Just before 4.30am, incredible images posted to social media showed a huge crowd at Federation Square, with flares launched into the air well before the on-screen action got under way.<\/p>\n
Police confirmed 14 flares and one firework were set off shortly before the match kicked off, leading to two arrests. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are expected to be charged on summons,\u201d a police statement read. <\/p>\n
About 4.55am Saturday, a 16-year-old boy was arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at Federation Square. <\/p>\n
Police confirmed the incident would be investigated with oversight from detectives at the Melbourne Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.<\/p>\n
There have been no further updates, but police expect him to be charged on summons. <\/p>\n
Officers on horses were needed to keep the crowds calm as some tried to push into the venue. <\/p>\n
One officer sustained minor injuries to his foot after \u201cbeing crushed against a barrier\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In videos circulating on social media a group of fans appear to be booing as the United States national anthem played on the big screen. <\/p>\n
Huge crowds also turned out at Sydney\u2019s Tumbalong Park and Darling Harbour, with fans there also setting off flares.<\/p>\n
NSW Police have since arrested two young men after allegedly lighting flares at the park, with another man suffering facial injuries as a result. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere pubs, cafes and other public viewing areas were packed for the nailbiting match. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou might not have a home crowd, but you\u2019ve got the noise of a nation behind you,\u201d Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on X early on Saturday morning. <\/p>\n
However, despite their efforts the Socceroos conceded goals in the 11th and 43rd minutes.<\/p>\n
USA are now set to top Group D, unless Turkey win their final two games.<\/p>\n
Australia will next take on Paraguay on Friday at midday (AEST). <\/p>\n
It comes after wild scenes were also seen in Federation Square last weekend as the Socceroos defeated Turkey 2-0. <\/p>\n
Footage circulating on social media showed flares being set off in surrounding streets before the match had even begun on Sunday, as fans gathered for Australia\u2019s first match of the cup. <\/p>\n
The chaotic scenes prompted a safety reminder from Victoria Police who said flares are designed for emergency use only and can pose a serious risk of injury or fire when used in crowded public areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice remind the public that misuse of flares is dangerous and may result in significant penalties,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A teenager has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at Federation Square on Saturday morning, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":748809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,187436,85],"class_list":["post-748808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-newswire-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}