Argentina to face France in Olympic men's football quarter-finals

Two-time gold medalists Argentina are set to face host nation France in the quarter-finals of the Olympic men's football tournament at Paris 2024.

France secured their spot in the knockout stages as group winners with a 3-0 victory over New Zealand on Tuesday, finishing their group campaign with a perfect record of three wins from three matches.

Argentina's 2-0 win over Ukraine earlier in the day confirmed their second-place finish in Group B. Morocco topped the group thanks to their superior head-to-head record, following a 3-0 victory over Iraq.

Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Desire Doue and Arnaud Kalimuendo gave France a 3-0 victory over New Zealand, after Thiago Almada and Claudio Echeverri had seen Argentina to a win over Ukraine.

The two teams will meet at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on Friday.

As the Olympics is primarily an Under-23 tournament, allowing only three overage players per team, only a few participants have experience from both the 2022 World Cup final and the 2024 Copa America.

Argentina's Julián Álvarez, Nicolás Otamendi, Germán Rucci, and Thiago Almada, all 2022 World Cup winners, are also members of the Copa America-winning squad from this summer. In contrast, no players from France's 2022 World Cup team are competing in the Olympics.

Argentina won back-to-back Olympic golds in 2004 and 2008, while France were last Olympic champions in 1984. This marks the first time they have progressed past the group stages since 1996.

In the other quarter-finals, the United States will play Morocco, Egypt face Paraguay, and Japan take on Spain.