After players' altercation, Miami and Seattle fans clash following League Cup final | OneFootball

Outside Lumen Field on Sunday night the Leagues Cup final whistle between Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami ended the game but sparked violent and regrettable scenes.

As thousands of fans filed out of Lumen Field, a routine walk to the parking lot turned into a street fight. And not a small one. The kind of fight that makes you take out your phone to record because you can't believe what you are seeing.

The videos on social media tell it all: a trash can being thrown like a missile through the air. A bright orange traffic cone, brought down into a crowd, smashes a dude in the head so hard his hat pops off.

Someone grabs a stick and starts swinging. Fists, kicks, shoves, bodies hitting the pavement. For minutes, it's just chaos. And there is not a single security guard or police officer in sight.

Tensions already boiling on the pitch between Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami

To get to the reason why it happened you need to go back inside the stadium. It was already a brutal finale on the pitch.Luis Suárez, one of the biggest players in the world of football, had 20-year-old Obed Vargas in a headlock. Sergio Busquets, another Barcelona legend, hit a Seattle player.

Maxi Falcón got tangled up in his own wrestling match. And then the image that's already infamous: Suárez spit in the direction of Gene Ramirez, Seattle's head of security.That was players showing fans how far they could go. And when fans saw it, they took that same energy into the streets.

MLS isn't used to this

Violent fans aren't new in soccer in different part of the world. But in Major League Soccer, but's different. Supporter groups here are loud, and passionate, but large-scale street violence is unusual.Sure, there've been moments. San Diego FC and LA Galaxy fans fought earlier this year and that got 33 people banned.

Two beer cans hit a NYCFC player during the MLS Cup in 2021. Those were bad. But Sunday in Seattle was a full-blow street fight. Trash cans flying, sticks swinging, dozens of people fighting after the league's biggest game of the year.

What's so scary is that this time it's the scale and nature of it. The scenes of violence happened on and around the field, including street fights, which is unprecedented.

Now, MLS needs to act quickly. There has to be stricter security, closer collaboration with police forces and real consequences for fans who fight. The league has to recognize that players' behavior on the field sets the tone.