France and Spain to lock horns in the Olympic men’s football final

Ahead of Spain, who had defeated Morocco earlier, in the Olympic men’s football final, France overcame a deficit to defeat Egypt 3-1 in extra time, thanks to two goals from Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Egypt took the lead thanks to a goal by Mahmoud Saber in the 62nd minute. The French were increasingly frustrated as they missed three opportunities to equalize in the 83rd minute, forcing extra time.

After Omar Fayed’s second bookable offense, Mateta took advantage to put France ahead before Michael Olise scored a third goal in the 108th minute, leaving Egypt down to 10 men.

While this will mark the first time a European team has won gold in the men’s event since Spain’s triumph in Barcelona in 1992, it also puts an end to Latin American countries’ domination, since Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico had won two of the previous five tournaments.

Thierry Henry, the Olympic coach for France, also gets to add to his illustrious career—he won the World Cup and the European Championship while playing for France. In his still-emerging coaching career, this would be his first significant honor.

France won silver in the 1900 Games held in Paris and gold in the men’s competition in Los Angeles in 1984.

Coming off the bench, Juanlu Sánchez led Spain to an Olympic record-tying fifth men’s final. His goal in Marseille in the 85th minute gave them a 2-1 victory against their Moroccan rivals.

“The moment passed so fast that I didn’t even realise it, but then when you realised that you scored the goal that puts your team in the final, I’m really happy,” Sánchez said.

Soufiane Rahimi, the tournament’s top scorer, struck a penalty kick in the 37th minute to give Morocco a 1-0 lead at the break. In the 65th minute, Fermín López scored a left-footed goal low into the bottom corner to tie the score for Spain. Then, the Barcelona midfielder set up Sánchez for the winning goal by sweeping it into the net with an assist.

“I think that my goal changed a bit the match, and I think it was a great match for the whole team and we deserved it,” López said. “And here we are.” Olympic men’s football final