August 9 – Host nation France, led by its manager Thierry Henry, take on Spain today in the Olympic football final in a bid to secure a first Olympic gold medal since 1984.
On home soil, the French are enjoying a bumper Olympic Games with their gold medal tally of 14 already outstripping their achievements of Tokyo 2020 and at the Parc des Princes their men’s team could add to that tally.
Both France and Spain are looking for their second Olympic gold medal. France won the tournament at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, defeating Brazil 2-0 in the final, while Spain prevailed on home soil at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, overcoming Poland 3-2.
That Spanish side included Pep Guardiola, Alberto Ferrer, Kiko and Luis Enrique.
The current generation is somewhat more modest because of the nature of the Olympic tournament – a U-23 tournament. At the same time, Spain deployed some of their best talent at Euro 2024 in Germany where Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal stormed to victory. In Paris, the Spanish will seek to build on that victory.
They will have to boss the host nation and its feverish fans as manager Henry seeks to redeem his coaching career.
After failed spells at AS Monaco and Montreal, Henry can deliver a message by steering his team to Olympic gold. The French had a perfect record in the group stages but rode their luck at times in the knockout phase. In a grudge match, they edged past Argentina 1-0 before needing extra time to eliminate Egypt 3-1 in the last four.
It’s the first time that the men’s final precedes the women’s final at the Olympic Games.
On Saturday, in a blockbuster women’s final, the United States, in search of a fifth gold medal, and Brazil, with Marta retiring from the international game, wrap up the Olympic tournament.
Last night, Morocco claimed their first-ever medal in Olympic football, winning the bronze medal match with a thumping 6-0 victory against Egypt.
Soufiane Rahimi bagged a brace and all of Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Achraf Hakimi were on the score sheet as well. In total, Rahimi, one of Morocco’s overaged players, scored eight goals in the tournament.
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