France target double football gold at the Olympic Games

After all the fun of the Euros and Copa America, the international football action keeps on coming. We’ve reached the knockout stage of the football tournament at the Olympics, with eight nations in both the men’s and women’s tournaments still competing to win the gold medal in Paris.

France are looking strong in both competitions, although they face stiff competition from the likes of Argentina and Spain in the men’s side, while the USA and Canada will challenge for the women’s title.

Ahead of the quarter-finals getting underway tomorrow, we’ve taken a look at all the key talking points so far.

Men’s Olympic quarter-final fixtures

France v Argentina
Egypt v Paraguay
Morocco v United States
Japan v Spain

Can anyone stop France?

Home advantage counts for a lot in Olympic football and France certainly seem to be benefiting from it. The hosts sailed through their group, winning all three matches without conceding a goal.

Thierry Henry’s squad is packed full of Premier League talent past and present, with Alexandre Lacazette, Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta all getting on the scoresheet in wins over the USA, Guinea and New Zealand. They’re targeting their second Olympic gold after going all the way back in 1984.

But the French face a tricky quarter-final test against Argentina. The South American nation won back-to-back gold medals in 2004 and 2008, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez leading their attack. This time around they’re led by Manchester City star Julian Alvarez, while Nicolas Otamendi provides experience at the back in a squad packed with home-based youngsters.

Argentina only managed to finish second in their group following a surprise defeat to Morocco in their opening game. They went on to beat Iraq and Ukraine to set up a tie with France, where a win could make them favourites for the title, with the winner of Egypt v Paraguay waiting in the semi-final.

Spain target gold after Tokyo heartbreak

On the other side of the draw, Spain are looking to go one better than last time. Three years ago in Tokyo they went all the way to the final, with a squad packed with recognisable talent, including Pedri, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal and Marco Asensio.

But they weren’t able to claim their second gold medal as former Barcelona winger Malcom’s extra-time strike secured a win for Brazil. This time around, Spain are going for gold despite finishing second in their group following a shock defeat to Egypt.

The Spanish face Japan who are no pushovers. Like France, they topped their group without conceding a goal and they swept aside Paraguay with a 5-0 thrashing in their opening game. They followed that up with solid 1-0 wins over Mali and Israel but they may need to step it up a gear to get past Spain.

Elsewhere, Egypt take on Paraguay and they’ll be confident of progressing after topping their group unbeaten ahead of Spain. Paraguay finished second in group D after two stoppage-time goals helped them beat Israel 4-2.

And in the final quarter-final clash, Morocco meet the USA. Morocco topped their group after Soufiane Rahimi’s impressive brace helped them beat Argentina in a game steeped with VAR controversy. They face an American side that lost to France but then showed their class by scoring seven goals as they won their two remaining group games.

Women’s Olympic quarter-final fixtures

France v Brazil
Spain v Colombia
USA v Japan
Canada v Germany

The story so far

Like the men, France topped their group, although they weren’t quite as formidable as they lost to Canada. They’re looking to improve on their best-ever finish of fourth and they’ll fancy their chances.

The French are led by Paris Saint-Germain striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who has shown her quality so far at the games. The 25-year-old has scored 35 times for her country and she’s brought that pedigree to the Olympics, scoring five times in the group stage. They face Brazil who have never won gold, although they’ve claimed the silver medal on two occasions. They scraped through the groups in third place after losing twice.

Spain topped their group with three wins and they boast a talented squad, including two-time Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Alexia Putellas. They meet Colombia who, like Brazil, qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.

Elsewhere, four-time gold medal winners USA are among the favourites to win the tournament, although their last gold came back in 2012. They managed bronze in Tokyo and will be full of confidence after three wins in the group stage. They meet Japan in the quarter-finals, who they beat in the final in London 12 years ago.

Finally, Canada will take on Germany in the next round. Both sides finished as runners-up in their group, although the Canadians won all three games before being docked six points for illegal drone spying. They won gold three years ago but face a strong Germany side who have already beaten Australia 3-0 and Zambia 4-1.

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