France vs. Spain live updates: Olympic men's soccer gold medal game score, highlights
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The spectacular home of Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital is the site of the Olympics men’s football’s Gold Medal Game between hosts France and Spain, who come into this one looking to claim their second-ever gold medal in men’s football to complete their dream summer after winning Euro 2024 last month.
Three Barcelona stars will be in action as Pau Cubarsí, Eric García and Fermín López are all expected to start for La Roja, and Fermín will be hoping to finish his incredible run at the Olympics with another special performance in the Final to bring home gold. But it won’t be easy against a very strong French side coached by Barça legend Thierry Henry, which is undefeated in the tournament and has conceded just once so far. This should be all kinds of fun, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. Vamos!
Competition/Round: Paris 2024, Men’s Football, Gold Medal Game
Date/Time: Friday, August 9, 2024, 6pm CET (Barcelona), 5pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 12pm ET, 9am PT (USA), 9.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Referee: Ramon Abatti (BRA)
VAR: Tatiana Guzmán (NCA)
HOW TO WATCH
On TV: USA Network (USA), TVE La 1 (Spain), others
Online: FuboTV (USA), discovery+, BBC iPlayer (UK), others
Will France win the gold medal in men’s soccer as the 2024 Paris Olympics hosts?
Or will Spain bring home the gold after failing to do so in the last Olympic final?
France and Spain will compete in the Olympic men’s soccer final on Friday, kicking off at noon ET, at Parc des Princes in Paris.
Both countries hope to win their second gold medal in the sport.
Spain has reached its second consecutive gold medal game, but finished with silver against Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics. Spain previously won gold at Barcelona in 1992.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
France won silver as hosts at the Paris Games in 1900, and last won gold at Los Angeles in 1984.
Follow along for live updates, score and highlights from USA TODAY Sports on the France-Spain match today:
France (+150) is a slight favorite over Spain (+200), while a draw is +195 at BETMGM. These odds only account for the 90-minute regulation.
France responded from the brink of elimination as Olympic hosts behind two goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta (83’ and 99’), and another by Michael Olise (108’) to defeat Egypt 3-1 on Monday.
France also beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and won Group A with a 3-0 win over the United States, 1-0 win vs. Guinea and 3-0 win against New Zealand in Paris.
Spain won in comeback fashion behind goals by Fermín López (66’) and Juanlu Sanchez (85’) to edge Morocco 2-1 during their semifinal on Monday.
Spain also defeated Japan 3-0 in the quarterfinals, and finished second in Group C after a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan, a 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic and a 2-1 loss to Egypt in Paris.
The bronze medal was awarded to Morocco, which emphatically defeated Egypt 6-0 on Thursday.
Soufaine Rahimi scored twice (26’ and 64’), and became the first player in Olympic history to score in six straight matches. Abde Ezzalzouli (23’), Bilal El Khannouss (51’), Akram Nakach (73’) and Achraf Hakimi (87’) also scored for Morocco.
The United States men's soccer team was ousted after a 4-0 loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals.
But here are the positives: It was USA men's soccer's first Olympics appearance since 2008, and the first time they reached the knockout stage since 2000.
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, watch the swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.
Meanwhile, Spain, winners on home soil at Barcelona 1992, are arriving into the final after beating Morocco 2-1 in the semis. Like France, Spain also had to come from behind after conceding a penalty from Soufiane Rahimi in the first half. Youngster Fermin Lopez brought them level with a superb strike before Juanlu Sanchez secured victory just five minutes before the end of the match.
La Roja have also finished runners-up thrice and this will be their second consecutive Olympic men’s football final. They had lost 2-1 to Brazil in the men’s gold medal match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Spain blanked Japan 3-0 in the quarter-finals with a brace from Fermin while Abel Ruiz also got on the scoresheet. Their only loss at Paris 2024 came against Egypt in the group stage. A brace from Ibrahim Adel saw Spain suffer a 2-1 loss.
