🥇 Olympics 2024: France set up Argentina clash; USA seal knockout spot

There were eight fixtures taking place across the group stages of the men’s Olympic Games on Tuesday.

Here’s what went down.

France set up Argentina clash

Scorers: Mateta 19′, Doué 71′, Kalimuendo 74′

France sealed their spot as Group A winners with a 3-0 win over New Zealand in Marseille.

Jean-Philippe Mateta broke the scoring by pouncing on a loose ball inside the penalty area and unleashing a hooked effort.

Les Bleus stepped things up in the second half, first with Désiré Doué skipping home for the host nation in the final quarter.

That was followed just three minutes later by Arnaud Kalimuendo driving a low effort in the box to wrap up a comfortable victory.

Thierry Henry’s side are now set to face off against Argentina in Friday’s last-eight showdown in Bordeaux.

USA comfortably dispatch Guinea

Scorers: Mihailović 14′, Paredes 31′, 75′

The United States booked a first knockout appearance in 24 years by finishing Group A runners-up with a 3-0 victory over Guinea.

Đorđe Mihailović opened the scoring with a curling free kick into the top left-hand corner of Soumalia Sylla’s net.

The Stars and Stripes extended their lead just after the half-hour mark when Kevin Paredes was sent clear by Paxten Aaronson for a tidy finish.

Paredes went on to double his personal tally during the final 15 minutes in Saint-Étienne with a sublime drive from inside the penalty area.

Marko Mitrović’s side will now take on Morocco during Friday’s quarter-final clash at the Parc des Princes.

Almada fires Argentina through

Scorers: Almada 47′, Echeverri 90+2′

Argentina advanced into the Olympics quarter-final courtesy of two second half strikes to sink Ukraine 2-0 in Lyon.

A first half low on incident and opportunities ended scoreless, although a gilt-edged one-on-one from Argentina should have resulted in the opener.

But they didn’t have to wait long after the restart to take the lead through Almada when he was afforded too much room to waltz forward and pick out the corner with a sublime curling effort to put his side in the driver’s seat.

They didn’t put things out of reach until injury-time when Manchester City starlet Claudio Echeverri netted from close range after the ball was spilled at his feet.

Their progression means Julian Álvarez keeps up his incredible pursuit of gold with his country as he aims to win a sixth successive tournament with the Albiceleste.

Morocco’s big win over Iraq means they edge Javier Mascherano’s men out as group winners will face USA, while Argentina are set for a mouthwatering meeting with France.

Morocco 3-0 Iraq

Egypt pip Spain to top spot

Scorers: Omorodion 90+1′; Adel 40′, 62′

Egypt overcame a weakened Spain side 2-1 in Bordeaux to beat them to top spot in group C at the men’s Olympic Games.

With La Roja having already qualified by virtue of their victories in their opening two games, they made wholesale changes for their final group clash.

That looked to have cost them when, five minutes before half-time, the opener arrived and it came the way of the underdogs thanks to a fantastic finish from Ibrahim Adel who curled in from the edge of the area after good work down the right flank.

Taking advantage of their weakened opposition, Egypt doubled their lead through Adel’s second of the afternoon as he pounced upon a slack defensive back pass from Jon Pacheco and calmly steered into the corner.

Sergio Camello was denied by the woodwork in the closing stages for Spain before Samu Omorodion set up a grandstand finish with a header but despite the 13 minutes injury-time added, they couldn’t find a leveller and slid into second.

Both sides qualify for the quarter-final, with Spain set to meet Japan next and Egypt likely to face Paraguay.

Dominican Republic 1-1 Uzbekistan

Israel 0-0 Japan

Paraguay 1-0 Mali