After trailing 3-1 to Spain in the final match of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France was able to overcome adversity and managed to equalize the game after a penalty kick goal by Jean-Phillipe Mateta, following the referee’s recourse to the VAR.
In the 90th minute of the game, after a French corner kick, Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti awarded a penalty kick to the home team, after observing the play on the VAR and seeing a grab inside the Spanish area.
France started the match winning after an early goal by Enzo Millot but the happiness was short-lived, as 6 minutes later Fermin Lopez tied the match. After 7 minutes, Barcelona striker Lopez scored again to put his team up 2-1.
In the 27th minute, Alex Baena extended the lead with a free kick goal to put Spain up 3-1. But just when things looked difficult for France, Les Bleus managed to wake up in time and in the 78th minute Maghnes Akliouche cut the deficit to make it 3-2. Jean-Phillipe Mateta finally tied the match with a penalty kick in the last minute of regulation time.
Spain win the gold medal at Paris 2024 Olympic Games
After a fascinating match that France managed to tie 3-3 in the last minute with a penalty kick goal by Jean-Phillipe Mateta, the match went into overtime to decide who would win the gold medal and who would get the silver.
After 9 minutes into the first overtime, Sergio Camello would score to put Spain ahead 4-3 and bring them closer to their second gold medal. Finally, the same Rayo Vallecano player would give Spain the last goal to win the match 5-3.
In this way, Spain won the second gold medal in soccer in their history, after having won the first one in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
