Israeli and French fans engaged in a brief skirmish on Thursday night at Stade de France, where vigilant police presence helped contain the clash.

Thousands of police officers are set to be deployed around Paris on Thursday ahead of a soccer game between France and Israel, seeking to avoid a repeat of last week's violence in Amsterdam involving locals and Israeli fans.

After the recent violence around an Israeli team’s game in Amsterdam, French leaders insisted on proceeding under security with a France-Israel match, and on showing up, themselves.