France vs Spain

A place in history books is up for grabs as France and Spain go head-to-head in the 2024 Olympic Games final at the Parc des Princes.

France navigated a nerve-shredding semi-final tie against Egypt last time out, fighting back from a second-half deficit to claim a 3-1 extra-time win and reach the Olympic final for the first time since winning gold in 1984 in Los Angeles. Thiery Henry’s men have gone from strength to strength on home soil this summer, winning all five Olympic outings by a combined score of 11-1. Les Bleus’ formidable attacking output accounts for the joint-competition high of 11 goals scored at the Games, while they’ve only conceded once on the other end of the pitch. Unsurprisingly the bookies’ favorites to win the tournament, the hosts will turn to free-scoring Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta to deliver the goods up top. With four goals, he’s only one short of Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi in the Golden Boot race.

In the meantime, Spain overturned a halftime deficit against Morocco in the semi-finals, netting two unanswered goals past the hour mark to set up their second successive appearance in the Olympic final. La Roja will hope for a more favorable outcome this time after losing to Brazil after extra time in the delayed ‘Tokyo 2020.’ Like their opposition, Santi Denia’s men are firing on all cylinders, netting 2+ goals in four of their five matches in this summer’s Olympics. However, just one clean sheet in that sequence casts doubt on Spain’s effort to pip France to the coveted gold medal they last won in 1992 in Barcelona. Spain’s traditionally slow starts have seen four of their five Olympic goals conceded this summer arrive before halftime.