Results of U23 France vs U23 Spain, 2024 Olympic men’s football final – After a dramatic chase, U23 Spain defeated U23 France in the 2024 Olympic men’s football final, thereby winning the Olympic gold medal after 32 years of waiting.
True to the nature of a final, both U23 France and U23 Spain showed their determination to win by creating an attractive attacking game.
After a series of dangerous situations, the opening goal came in an unexpected scenario. In the 11th minute, from a chaotic situation in the U23 Spain penalty area, Alex Baena made a bad clearance, creating an opportunity for Enzo Millot to shoot and causing goalkeeper Tenas to make a mistake, thereby bringing the lead to the home team.
Enzo Millot opened the scoring for U23 France. Photo: Getty
After conceding a painful goal, it seemed that the “Bull Country” team would have difficulty recovering, however, everything turned around quickly.
In the 18th minute, after a pass in the middle, Alex Baena had a favorable pass for Fermin Lopez to finish neatly to bring the equalizer for the away team.
Fermin Lopez quickly equalized for U23 Spain. Photo: Getty
From this point on, the nightmare struck U23 France. Less than 10 minutes after the equalizer, coach Thierry Henry’s team received 2 more goals from Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena.
In the following minutes, U23 France created countless dangerous attacks towards the away team’s goal, but could not put the ball in the net again and had to enter the break with a disadvantage in terms of score.
In the second half, La Roja proactively slowed down the pace of the match and gave the home team the attacking power. Taking advantage of this, U23 France did not hesitate to push up their formation and created countless shots towards the away team’s goal.
After creating dangerous opportunities, the final result came to U23 France. In the 79th minute, from a difficult free kick by Michael Olise, the ball accidentally found Maghnes Akliouche, a player who was sent on as a substitute for the home team, thereby reducing the gap to one goal.
Mateta brought home a valuable equalizer for U23 France. Photo: Getty
Excited after the goal, coach Henry urged his players to push up the formation to get an equalizer. The tireless efforts of the French U23 were rewarded with a penalty kick in the extra minutes, and striker Philippe Mateta did not miss the opportunity to bring the match back to the starting line before the official time ended, thereby dragging the match into two extra periods.
In the first extra time, both teams continuously had dangerous attacks, however, only U23 Spain was the team that converted into a goal with a delicate pass from striker Sergio Camello.
Sergio Camello’s delicate pass helped Spain U23 take the lead. Photo: Getty
With nothing left to lose, the French hosts rose up strongly to find an equalizer. However, the chances could not defeat the solidity and concentration of the away team’s defense. Not only that, the team led by coach Henry received a “counterattack” when Sergio Camello once again scored a goal after a lightning counterattack, thereby accepting the victory for U23 Spain with a score of 5-3 after two extra periods.
U23 won and got the gold medal in men’s football. Photo: Getty
This victory helps Spain taste the Olympic men’s football gold medal for the first time after 32 years of waiting, while host France will have to continue waiting at least 4 years later, where the 2028 Olympics will take place in the US.