Olympics men’s soccer final thriller

Host nation France will meet Spain in the men’s soccer final at the 2O24 Paris Olympics. France’s Jean-Philippe Mateta scored two goals, including one in extra time in Monday night’s semi-final to beat Egypt 3-1.  Michael Olise added insult to injury by adding another extra-time goal in the 108^th minute.

Spain had advanced after Fermín López (66’) and Juanlu Sanchez (85′) started a second-half comeback in a 2-1 win against Morocco. France and Spain will play for the gold medal Friday, both seeking their second Olympic gold, in an all-Euro final. Spain will make its second straight appearance in the gold medal game, after losing to Brazil and earning silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Spain previously won gold at Barcelona in 1992.

France have yet to lose at the Olympics, though they’ve had some nailbiting matches, where their ability to shine late in the match to keep their perfect record intact. Spain, meanwhile, lost to Egypt in the group phase before getting past Japan and Morocco in the knockout rounds.

The hosts look like the favourites. They’ve dominated defensively in this tournament, allowing just one goal while scoring eleven goals. Spain is loaded with talent though arguably haven’t been as impressive at this tournament, allowing five goals while scoring eleven. The Spaniards do seem to have an aura about them at international level at the moment, regardless of which team they are playing.

They will be tested against the host France. Morocco and Egypt will for the bronze medal ahead on Thursday, ahead the final on Friday.  The exclusively African match will have both teams vying for their first Olympic medal in the sport.

Both sides will meet for the first time at the Olympics. The last time both countries qualified for the same Olympic Games was in 2012. The Moroccans were eliminated in the group stages, while Egypt advanced to the quarterfinals.

For the first time since Tokyo 1964, Egypt have advanced to the Olympic semifinals. For the first time ever, Morocco have reached the last four of the Olympics in its history.

Egypt will have to make a defensive substitution, since Omar Fayed was suspended after receiving a red card against France. The centre-back will be especially regretful for his first booking, which was for protesting against a penalty that was ultimately disallowed due to VAR’s involvement.

Important midfielder Bilal El Khannous, who was suspended and missed Morocco’s semi-final loss, will be available for Thursday’s bronze-medal match. He will be the driving force behind Soufiane Rahimi’s strong assault.

Whatever happens on the field on Thursday, North Africa is set to secure a medal and both Olympic teams can look back at a historic run to build on in the future. Even better for BRICS if Egypt secured the bronze medal.

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