Spain has won Olympic gold in men’s soccer again, while France suffered a bout of déjà vu in Friday’s final at the Paris Games.
Sergio Camello scored two goals in extra time to propel Spain to a 5-3 victory for the gold medal against France at Parc des Princes in Paris.
Spain continued its dominant summer, winning Olympic gold and Euro 2024. It is Spain’s second Olympic gold (Barcelona 1992), and improved on its silver finish to Brazil at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Meanwhile, France finished with silver for the second time as hosts. France won silver at the Paris Games in 1900, and last won gold at Los Angeles in 1984.
The men’s soccer final was a wave of emotions for the French, who were elated after Enzo Millot scored in the 11th minute. About 17 minutes later, Spain’s Fermín López scored twice (18’ and 25’), and Álex Baena scored a free kick (28’) to take a commanding 3-1 lead.
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France trailed for much of the match until Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a penalty kick in stoppage time to tie Spain at 3 in the final minutes of regulation.
France’s Arnaud Kalimuendo was taken down by Spain’s Beñat Turrientes inside the penalty area during a late corner kick in the 89th minute, and the penalty kick was awarded to France after VAR.
Thanks to Maghnes Akliouche’s goal in the 79th minute, France erased a 3-1 deficit to force extra time. But Spain would not be denied.
Check out these highlights from USA TODAY Sports on the France-Spain match:
Spain is on its way to gold at the Paris Olympics against host France.
Sergio Camello scored his second goal in extra time (120+1’), and Spain will hang on to win the men’s soccer final.
Spain is back on top: Sergio Camello chipped in a goal over sliding French goalkeeper Guillaume Restes to take a 4-3 lead in the 100th minute during extra time.
The men’s soccer final is not over, and France is back in it.
France’s Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a penalty kick in stoppage time to tie Spain at 3 in the final minutes of regulation. The match will continue with extra time for the gold medal.
France’s Arnaud Kalimuendo was taken down by Spain’s Beñat Turrientes inside the penalty area during a late corner kick in the 89th minute, and the penalty kick was awarded to France after VAR.
Maghnes Akliouche also scored in the 79th minute for France, which erased a 3-1 deficit Spain held since the 28th minute.
The men’s soccer final is not over, and France is back in it.
France’s Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a penalty kick in stoppage time to tie Spain at 3 in the final minutes of regulation.
France’s Arnaud Kalimuendo was taken down by Spain’s Beñat Turrientes inside the penalty area during a late corner kick in the 89th minute, and a penalty kick was awarded to France after VAR.
France is back in the men’s soccer final, but running out of time.
Maghnes Akliouche’s goal in the 79th minute trimmed Spain’s lead to 3-2 for host France.
Spain responded to France’s early lead with three goals of their own in a span of 10 minutes to take a 3-1 lead in the gold medal game.
Fermín López scored twice (18’ and 25’), and a free kick by Álex Baena (28’) helped Spain respond emphatically after France’s Enzo Millot gave the home side a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute.
France’s leading goalscorer Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly made his mark again, but his header was deflected by Spain goalkeeper Amau Tenas in stoppage time before halftime. Michael Olise also had a left boot that just sailed outside the left post in a hectic sequence near the net. France defender Loic Badé also finished the half with a yellow card after a foul.
Spain is on fire in Paris: Álex Baena scored a free kick goal into the left corner of the net to help Spain take a 3-1 lead in the 28th minute against France in the gold medal match.
Spain scored three unanswered goals in a span of 10 minutes after falling behind 1-0 to France in the 11th minute.
In a matter of 15 minutes, Spain turned an early deficit into an early lead.
Fermín López already has a brace after his second goal, a putback in front of the net in the 25th minute, to help Spain take a 2-1 lead against France.
López has six goals at the Paris Games, two shy of Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi.
It didn’t take Spain long to respond: Fermín López finished a stellar sequence with a right boot into the back of the net in the 18th minute of this gold medal match against host France. It’s just the second goal France has allowed during the Paris Games.
France is on the board early in the gold medal game: Enzo Millot’s left boot was deflected by Spain goalie Arnau Tenas into the left side of the net in the 11th minute.
France (+150) is a slight favorite over Spain (+200), while a draw is +195 at BETMGM. These odds only account for the 90-minute regulation.
France responded from the brink of elimination as Olympic hosts behind two goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta (83’ and 99’), and another by Michael Olise (108’) to defeat Egypt 3-1 on Monday.
France also beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and won Group A with a 3-0 win over the United States, 1-0 win vs. Guinea and 3-0 win against New Zealand in Paris.
Spain won in comeback fashion behind goals by Fermín López (66’) and Juanlu Sanchez (85’) to edge Morocco 2-1 during their semifinal on Monday.
Spain also defeated Japan 3-0 in the quarterfinals, and finished second in Group C after a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan, a 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic and a 2-1 loss to Egypt in Paris.
The bronze medal was awarded to Morocco, which emphatically defeated Egypt 6-0 on Thursday.
Soufaine Rahimi scored twice (26’ and 64’), and became the first player in Olympic history to score in six straight matches. Abde Ezzalzouli (23’), Bilal El Khannouss (51’), Akram Nakach (73’) and Achraf Hakimi (87’) also scored for Morocco.
The United States men’s soccer team was ousted after a 4-0 loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals.
But here are the positives: It was USA men’s soccer’s first Olympics appearance since 2008, and the first time they reached the knockout stage since 2000.
The USWNT will play Brazil in the gold medal game of the Paris Olympics on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET.
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