Clashes erupted shortly after midnight in the French city's Old Port area where hundreds of travelling supporters had spent Thursday drinking.
Local French youths are thought to have attacked England supporters who had gathered en masse outside the Queen Victoria pub, and O'Malley's, an Irish bar next door, ahead of the Three Lions first group game of Euro 2016 against Russia on Saturday.
The ultras posted messages on social media saying: 'Welcome to Marseille, England fans.'
A group of England fans chanted: 'ISIS, where are you?'
Marseille is a port city with a strong Islamic community and Muslims make up around a third of the population.
Two England fans have been arrested, one for assaulting a barman and the other for violent disorder.
Deterrent: Police use tear gas to disperse the angry crowds after trouble flared with England fans in Marseille
Fans walk away from the clashes as tear gas hangs in the air after last night's violence on Marseille's streets
England fans huddle together outside the Irish bar as police dog units and riot officers watch on in the Old Port area of the city
Aggressive: England fans run around outside the Irish bar as concerned police watch on
Trouble: French police used tear gas on English fans in Marseille after clashes broke out between travelling fans and local hooligans
Violence: Trouble flared outside an Irish pub in the Old Port of the southern city just before midnight on Thursday
A group of England fans were said to have chanted: 'ISIS, where are you?' ahead of the Three Lions first match against Russia
Ready for kick-off: Thousands of England fans have landed in France ahead of the start of Euro 2016
Let it all out: Two rowdy - and rather pale - supporters settle into their holiday on the southern France coast
Here we go: Roy Hodgson's side begin their campaign against Russia in Marseille on Saturday evening. But their loyal support have already got their month-long tournament underway with a hearty day's drinking in the summer sun
Cheer: The party began early this morning as the first few planes from across the Channel touched down in the south of the country
Police first responded to the violence at around 11.45pm and by midnight ambulances were arriving.
As well as riot police, undercover officers brandishing stun guns and truncheons picked off anybody behaving badly.
It was all a grim replay of the violence in 1998 which happened before and after England's 1998 World Cup tie with Tunisia in Marseille. Some of those who had been involved in the 1998 clashes were drinking in the area again.
During that time, more than 100 were arrested or deported and some England fans were later jailed.
By the early hours, police had blocked off roads around the Old Port, using dogs and vans to stop traffic getting through.
Meanwhile, gangs of local thugs could be seen taunting England fans who were trying to get back to their hotels.
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