France Set To Face Argentina in Olympic Football Quarterfinals – A Clash of Titans

France Set To Face Argentina in Olympic Football Quarterf...

By Keith Mado July 31, 2024 11:09

Photo: AFP

What will look like a rematch of the most recent men's World Cup Final in Qatar, France and Argentina will meet and compete once again for a slot in the Paris 2024 Olympics football game semi-final on Friday. The two intercontinental football heavyweights will faceoff at Bordeaux's Matmut Atlantique, with the winner earning a winnable semi-final against either Egypt or Paraguay. In the group stage, Olympic hosts France became one of the two teams to win all three of their group matches in the men's football competition, scoring seven goals and holding three clean sheets in a row.

Thierry Henry's men laid down an early marker in Group A with their 3-0 beatdown of the United States, although they had to wait until the second half for all three of their goals, but who cares? A goal is a goal and a win is a win. However, in Tuesday's group finale against New Zealand, Jean-Philippe Mateta broke France's first-half duck, before Desire Doue and Arnaud Kalimuendo also struck after the break to top their group without too much trouble.

Les Bleus will compete in their first Olympic men's quarter-final since the 1996 Atlanta Games. It has been 40 years since they won a knockout Olympic match, when they won their only gold medal in the male tournament. The current Olympic hosts have lost five of their last six men's matches at this stage, but their current overall unbeaten streak now stands at an impressive form.

Argentina easily swept aside Iraq and Ukraine to finish second in Group B behind their African counterparts, quickly forgetting their dramatic and unpleasant defeat to Morocco in their first match of the tournament. Thiago Almada stole a lot of the pre-tournament buzz, and the first-ever World Cup champion from MLS delivered in both games, scoring the opening goals on both occasions, while Manchester City-bound Claudio Echeverri sealed Tuesday's 2-0 victory over Ukraine in extra time.

Argentina matched Morocco in points, goal differential, goals scored, and goals conceded, but their dramatic defeat to the Atlas Lions forced them to settle for second on head-to-head points, despite the fact that their little barren Olympic period is now ended. Argentina has advanced to the knockout rounds for the first time since their second and most recent gold medal victory in 2008, having failed to advance beyond the group stage in both 2016 and 2021, and only one of their previous five quarter-final matchups has resulted in defeat.

That one defeat occurred at the hands of Brazil in 1988, but while the men senior National Team of France and Argentina had a genuinely unforgettable battle in Qatar a year and a half ago, where one of the greatest footballer of all time, Lionel Messi led Argentina to the World Cup glory. Friday's match will be their first in the men's Olympic football event. France coach Henry did not hesitate to make a few changes for Tuesday's match against New Zealand, with in-demand Rennes talent Doue and Kalimuendo among the new starting to justify their inclusions.

While France had the luxury of resting some of its top stars in midweek, Argentina's big names were not given such a break due to their unpredictable group placement, a loss might deny them the qaterfinal qualifications, and weariness was visible among the South Americans in their final game of the group stage. Regardless, a titanic battle is expected. Henry's men will be out for that revenge and they may likely lose their pristine defensive record, but it's football, and anything can happen.