In a pulsating final encounter at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Spain Under-23 trounced France Under-23 with a 5-3 victory after extra time.
The keenly contested action-packed match was played at Stade de France by both teams who left no stone unturned, but Spain came up trumps through a late surge led by Sergio Camello.
The match began as early as the 11th minute, with France on the front foot following Enzo Millot’s early advantage handed to the hosts. Millot took full advantage of a defensive error from Spain, calmly slotting the ball into the bottom left corner after a well-placed right-wing cross. The French side looked good at the start before Spain joined the act.
Spain equalized in the 18th minute through Fermín López, who was brilliant throughout, showing superb form. An excellent passing move was topped off by López, who scored with a precise right-footed shot to the bottom left corner, with no chance left to the French goalkeeper. This gave Spain much-needed momentum, and the team continued pushing forward.
Spain took the lead in the 25th minute, again at the hands of López. A cross-field play by Juan Miranda picked out Abel Ruiz in the box, whose shot was parried by the French goalkeeper, but López was there to finish off the rebound.
This brought the score to 2-1 in favor of Spain. Just three minutes later, with a really beautiful free kick, Álex Baena twisted an arching shot into the top left corner from just outside the box, bringing the score to 3-1.
France could hardly digest the quick goals by Spain and stumbled for recovery before pulling back one in the 79th minute. Maghnes Akliouche got on the end of a cross from Michael Olise and rifled an adamant left-footed shot to make it 3-2, thus giving France a lifeline.
The game went deep into the final minutes with France desperately pushing; then, well into added time, the result came. In the 89th minute, Arnaud Kalimuendo won a penalty following his foul in the box by Beñat Turrientes. Jean-Philippe Mateta stepped up to take it and stroked the penalty composed into the middle of the goal to level things at 3-3, taking the tie to extra time.
The first half of extra time was end-to-end, but it was the Spanish who regained the advantage in the 100th minute. All evening, Sergio Camello was a thorn in the flesh of the French backline; now he received another through ball by Adrián Bernabé and fired it right-footed into the bottom left corner to put Spain ahead 4-3.
France, however, never gave up trying to come up with a reply, but Spain’s defense was resilient. The killer blow came deep into the second half of extra time, finally, when Camello notched again in the 120th minute. Breaking quickly, Arnau Tenas spotted Camello with a pinpoint pass, and the striker rifled a powerful left foot from the outside of the box that beat the French goalkeeper, cementing Spain’s 5-3 victory.
Camello’s strike sent the benches into raptures—the goalscorer earning a yellow card for excessive celebration—but it mattered little as Spain won the game to defend the Olympic football gold.
