Spain took the gold medal in the men’s football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by defeating hosts France 5-3 in a pulsating final that needed extra time to decide the winner. Substitution Sergio Camello netted twice in extra time to hand Spain a historic victory.
The final, a very hot Friday at a full house at Parc des Princes, was an attacking football spectacle from start to end, with the two teams throwing all caution to the wind. This started with France taking the lead early on through Enzo Millot, who capitalized on a poor clearance, firing home from the right side of the area. Arnau Tenas, the Spain goalkeeper, was left to misjudge the shot as it nestled into the bottom-left corner. The home side now lead 1-0.
But Spain would respond quickly and decisively. Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez stood at the core of their comeback, netting twice in quick succession. First, he found the bottom left corner with a cool finish after being teed up by Alex Baena in the 18th minute. Moments later, Lopez turned in a rebound after Guillaume Restes parried Abel Ruiz’s shot, sending Spain 2-1 in front.
Spain continued to press home their domination, pushing the score to 3-1 with an absolute screamer of a free-kick from Baena. The Villarreal midfielder curled an almost perfect effort over the wall and into the top left corner from just outside the penalty area, with Restes given no chance. This flurry of goals within 10 minutes cemented Spain’s control as the first half came to an end.
France refused to give up, though. They pushed with greater urgency in the second half and went close to pulling one back when Manu Kone’s header hit the crossbar. It was Michael Olise’s free-kick in the 79th minute which proved to be the lifeline. Flicked on by Maghnes Akliouche, it went into the far corner of the net to make it 3-2.
But it was in added time that the real drama began. Benat Turrientes, who moments before had given away a penalty for hauling down Arnaud Kalimuendo in the area, was nearly the villain again, but ice-cool, Mateta converted the penalty to make it 3-3 and send the game into extra time. Moments later, Turrientes almost made amends, his shot clipping the crossbar as the game continued on a knife edge.
Extra time saw both teams push for the win, but it was Spain who broke through. Substituted Sergio Camello latched onto a pass from Adrian Bernabe in the 100th minute, dinking the ball over Restes to restore Spain’s lead at 4-3. As France pushed forward desperately in the dying moments, Camello struck again. After a long throw from Tenas, he broke through the French defense and slotted past Restes to secure Spain’s first-ever Olympic gold in 32 years.
This victory gave Spain its second-ever gold medal in men’s football at the Olympics, the first since the 1992 Barcelona Games. It has also rounded off an incredible summer for Spanish football, with the senior team having won a record-breaking fourth European Championship weeks earlier. And as these under-23s bask in their golden glory, this era of Spanish dominance looks set to continue for some time.
