France men’s soccer comes from behind 3-1 to reach final…first title in 40 years

Paris, France and Spain, the hosts of the Olympic Games, have come from behind to reach the men’s soccer semifinals. Now it’s down to a fateful match for the gold medal.

The French Olympic soccer team defeated Egypt 3-1 in extra time in the men’s soccer semifinals at the Stade de Lyon in Lyon, France, on Friday (local time).

Led by Thierry Henry, the country’s leading goal scorer, the French have secured a silver medal at least for the first time at home.

After a shaky start to the tournament, including a 0-3 friendly loss to South Korea last November, France cruised through the group stage with three wins (seven goals scored and no goals conceded).

After topping Group A, the French beat perennial favorites Argentina 1-0 in the quarterfinals, then won a hard-fought semifinal against Egypt to reach the final.

After a scoreless first half, the balance seemed to tip in Egypt’s favor when Mahmoud Saber opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

But France’s striker Jean-Philippe Mateta stepped up to the plate. He equalized in the 38th minute with a right-footed strike after diligently chasing down a penetrating pass inside the penalty box.

Unable to draw in regulation time, the teams headed to extra time, where France had the last laugh.

The French were outnumbered when Egyptian defender Omar Fayed left the field after receiving his second booking just two minutes into the extra period.

Capitalizing on their numerical advantage, France pushed forward and nine minutes into the extra period, Mateta struck again, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

A resurgent France completely broke Egypt’s resolve, with Michael Oliseh scoring the winner in the third minute of extra time.

The last time France won an Olympic title was in Los Angeles 1984.

The French, who were considered a wild card before the tournament began, were hit with a series of setbacks, including the loss of A team ace Kylian Mbappe to Euro 2024 and a move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid (Spain).

However, they reached the final thanks to a solid defense that conceded just one goal in five games before the quarterfinals.

France’s final opponent, one win away from their first title in 40 years, is European powerhouse Spain.

The Spaniards booked their place in the final with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Morocco at the Stade de Marseille.

After conceding a goal in the 37th minute through Soufiane Rahimi, the Spaniards fought back with goals from Fermin Lopes in the 21st minute and Juanlu Sanchez in the 40th minute.

Spain also reached the final at the last Olympics, Tokyo 2020. However, they lost 1-2 to Brazil in a penalty shootout, taking home silver instead of gold.

The last time Spain won an Olympic title was in Barcelona 1992, on home soil.

With France and Spain in the final, it will be the first time since Barcelona 1992 that a European team has won the title.

From Atlanta 1996 to Tokyo 2020, teams from Africa and South America have won the gold medals.

The final between France and Spain will take place at 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The semifinal losers, Egypt and Morocco, will play for the bronze medal at the Stade de Lavoisoir in Nantes at 9:00 a.m. ET. 파워볼사이트 추천