The men’s soccer tournament saved the best match for last as Spain defeated France 5-3 to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In what was a goal fest of a final, Spain and France laid everything out on the line.
Both teams got off to a fast start as Enzo Millot put the home side on the scoresheet first in the 11th minute. It was an instant response for Spain thanks to Fermin Lopez’s clever run in the box to put away a one-touch finish past Guillaume Restes to make it 1-1 in the opening 20 minutes.
Lopez scored his second goal of the match – and his sixth in the tournament – in the 25th minute, and Spain continued to feed off of that momentum as Alex Baena scored a stunning free kick just under the 30-minute mark to give Spain an impressive 3-1 lead.
In the second half, Spain was comfortable sitting behind the ball and allowed France to have possession, and it was a tactic that harmed the Spanish.
In the 79th minute, Maghnes Akliouche did just enough to redirect Michael Olise’s shot off a free kick to make it 3-2. The drama accelerated in stoppage time as the referee called a penalty after a VAR review deemed Juan Miranda guilty of fouling Arnaud Kalimuendo in the box. Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta stepped up to take the penalty and cooly put it away to level the score at three-all.
Extra time was called upon as France continued to dominate possession, but Spain took its opportunity to hit on the counter in the 100th minute as Sergio Camello scored to give his team a 4-3 lead. France tried its best to find an equalizer as time was almost up, but Olise and company failed to create any clear-cut chances.
Camello got his second goal and put the match to bed after goalkeeper Arnau Tenas threw the ball deep into France’s half as Camello was able to catch up to the ball, dribble to France’s goal and put it past Restes to make it 5-3 in the last minute of the match.
"These matches are always difficult," Spain head coach Santi Denia said. "You have a very strong team like France who can sit back and defend very well, but we were able to break them. I'm very happy because our players sacrificed a lot to be here and they deserve to win the gold medal".
Spain's soccer success
Spain earned its second Olympic gold medal in men's soccer after winning its first at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Winning the final capped off what has been an incredible couple of years for Spanish soccer.
The men’s senior team recently won the 2024 European Championship, while the women’s team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Paris Games a year after winning the Women’s World Cup. Spanish club Real Madrid also won the latest edition of the UEFA Champions League, adding to the celebrations of success for Spanish soccer.
France was able to win silver on home turf and now has three medals in Olympic men’s soccer after winning gold in 1984 and silver in 1900.