Soccer: France advanced to the semifinals by defeating Argentina in a rematch

With a 1-0 victory over Argentina in a tense encounter in Bordeaux on Friday, hosts France advanced to the Olympic men’s football semi-finals for the first time in forty years due to a goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta in the first half.

In the other semifinal, Morocco will play Spain, while France will play Egypt for a spot in the championship.

France, seeking retribution for losing to Argentina in the last World Cup final, took an early lead thanks to Thierry Henry.

Following a 1-1 draw in regular time in Marseille, Egypt defeated Paraguay in a thrilling penalty shootout earlier on Friday.

Reaching their first Olympic semi-finals, Morocco defeated the United States 4-0 at Parc des Princes, thanks to two penalties and a goal by Achraf Hakimi of Paris St. Germain.

Thanks to a double from Fermin Lopez and a late goal from Abel Ruiz, Spain defeated Japan 3-0.

Ruiz scored a late goal to seal the victory for La Roja, who defeated Japan in the Tokyo Olympics semifinals three years prior. The game was won by Barcelona player Lopez, who scored outstanding goals in the eleventh and 73rd minutes.

Five minutes in, Mateta gave France the lead with a powerful header in the six-yard area off a corner.

Argentina attempted to tie the score, but poor finishing and a blatant error by Giuliano Simeone prevented them.

For the first time since their run for the bronze medal at the 2004 Games in Athens, Paraguay came dangerously close to making it to the semifinals at Marseille Stadium.

However, Ibrahim Adel’s close-range header two minutes from time cancelled out Diego Gomez’s goal in the 71st minute, which came following a superb through ball from Julio Enciso.

After extra time, the score was still tied. Marcelo Perez’s second effort at a penalty shootout for Paraguay was stopped by Hamza Alaa, and the Africans won all of their spot-kicks to move on.

DOMINATING FRANCE

Morocco won their first-ever Olympic knockout match by dominating the United States.

Morocco took the lead in the 29th minute thanks to a penalty that Soufiane Rahimi earned and scored for his fifth goal of the competition, thanks to the fervent backing of their fans who filled the PSG stadium.

After a brilliant team play, Ilias Akhomach increased the lead with a tap-in, and 20 minutes from time, Hakimi added a goal of his own after a nice solo run.

The 25-year-old defender Hakimi told reporters, “I felt like I was playing at home in this stadium where I play for my club, but also because our fans were very loud and here in big numbers.”

“I hope the fans who have followed us throughout the competition will stick with us all the way to the championship. Our goal is to bring them pride.”

After a VAR review for a handball, substitute Mehdi Maouhoub added another penalty in stoppage time to complete the whitewash.

Playing in their first Olympic quarterfinal in 24 years, the United States had just one goal attempt during the game but briefly outperformed their opponents after the interval.

Forward Akhomach remarked, “Here, we have always aimed for gold.” “We are going to leave everything on the pitch to achieve that.”

With great memories from their previous match at the World Cup in Qatar, where they prevailed on penalties in the round of 16, Morocco will want to astound Spain once more.