Spain beefs up security in Tenerife to avoid clashes between England, Wales fans

MADRID: Spanish police said they have increased security to prevent clashes between England and Wales fans on Tuesday (Nov 29) in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, where more than 2,500 soccer fans are following the World Cup under the winter sun.

Police are trying to avoid a brawl, after fighting broke out on Friday in the Las Americas area of the Spanish island between fans from both teams.

England and Wales face each other in their final Group B game at the Qatar World Cup on Tuesday in the so-called Battle of Britain.

Wales are on the brink of elimination and will need to beat England, possibly by a four-goal margin, to reach the last 16, while England could make it to the next round even if they lost, depending on the results of the group's other game Iran vs the US.

"This deployment will be set up hours before the match until hours after and will include the presence of the usual units such as patrol vehicles and other units specialised in maintaining public order," police said in a statement.

Riots related to World Cup results have erupted in other places over the past two weeks. On Sunday evening, excited Moroccan fans torched cars, trash cans and shared electric scooters in downtown Brussels after their team unexpectedly beat Belgium 2-0.