The stage is set
It’s about that “go hard or go home” time in the men’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Only four teams remain and will lay it all out on the line on Aug. 5.
The mighty Morocco outplayed the U.S. men's soccer team, Spain fired past Japan, Egypt needed penalties to defy Paraguay's challenge, and France hung on to a one-goal lead to eliminate Argentina.
Morocco, Spain, Egypt and France are now within reach of the gold medal match and standing on the No. 1 spot of the podium.
Semifinal matchups
The tournament did not fail to serve up semifinal matches that will bring absolute entertainment to soccer fans across the globe.
Gold-medal favorites France will take on the surprise team of the tournament in Egypt, while Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi leads a Moroccan team against Spain in a match that will be difficult to predict a winner.
All matches will be played on Monday, Aug 5, and the times for each game are below.
All times are in ET
- Morocco vs. Spain: 12 p.m.
- France vs. Egypt: 3 p.m.
Who can play each other in the gold medal match?
The winner of the semifinal match between Morocco and Spain will play against the winner of the other match between France and Egypt in the gold medal match. The two teams that lose will play in the bronze medal match.
Morocco vs Spain prediction
Nick Mendola's prediction: Fireworks. A lot of them. Spain has so many ways it can hurt you and there's not a player on the team, from goalkeeper to center forward, who doesn't possess the vision to make a devastating pass. Fermin Lopez and Sergio Gomez are wonderful talents. But Morocco very much looks like a program that gained massive confidence from its run to the 2022 World Cup semifinals, and it likely is desperate for another look at France. Achraf Hakimi, Abde Ezzalzouli and Bilal El Khannous were on the side that advanced deep in Qatar, and they may have enough to get their rematch. Morocco 2-1 Spain.
Leo Santos' prediction: Spain has brilliant individual talent, while Morocco has a powerful team. There's a difference between the two, and I think that's why Morocco will go through. World-class defender Hakimi continues to display 10/10 performances in each match and Soufiane Rahimi is obsessed with scoring goals in this tournament. Spain does have strong defenders in Pau Cubarsi, but if Lopez is unable to score a couple of screamers or Gomez has another game without making much of an impact, the Europeans will play for bronze instead of gold. Morocco 1-0 Spain.
France vs Egypt prediction
Nick Mendola's prediction: France probably had more sway with professional clubs than most nations when it came to getting overage players released for this tournament given that it was on home soil, but Les Bleus also knocked their choices out of the park. France looks like an absolute wagon with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Alexandre Lacazette using their athleticism and wisdom to work with u23 star Michael Olise in attack, while 24-year-old center back Loic Bade has brought maturity to a pairing with outstanding, athletic 21-year-old Castello Lukeba. Egypt plays at a feverish pace and is better than the sum of its parts, but this is too big of an ask. France 3-0 Egypt.
Leo Santos' prediction: France's toughest test was against Argentina, and now that it eliminated the South Americans, it is highly expected of them to reach the finals. Hats off to Egypt for making it this far, but France simply has too much firepower, as Nick mentioned, all over the pitch. The question for this match will be how many goals will the host nation win by. France 4-0 Egypt.