25,000 police on World Cup duty

FRANCE'S big World Cup night passed off peacefully, with no major incidents and only 29 football-related arrests reported across the country.

Both France and Algeria were in action in the last 16 of the competition, and there had been fears of a repeat of the violent scenes that followed Algeria’s previous match on Thursday.

There were no reports of serious trouble, as first France beat Nigeria, then Germany ended Algerian World Cup dreams to set up a quarter-final meeting on Friday at 6pm.

BFMTV said 29 people were arrested, compared to 74 on Thursday. In Lyon, scene of the worst of the trouble last week, police used water cannon to disperse a crowd of about 300 people in the early hours following Algeria's defeat.

Other minor clashes were reported in Vénissieux and Saint-Priest.

A total 25,000 officers were on duty last night,half the figure that patrols the streets on a normal New Year’s Eve, a senior official for public safety in Paris told Le Figaro.

Water cannon vehicles were placed on standby, the paper reported, while the fire boat was also on patrol in Bouche-du-Rhone.

In 2009, six boats were torched in Marseille’s Old Port following a football match between Egypt and Algeria.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Nice banned “ostentatious” flag-waving until the end of the tournament, while Front National leader Marine Le Pen called for an end to dual nationality.

Picture: BFMTV screengrab