The opening round of men’s at the Olympics 2024 Football saw the reigning World Champion Argentina and the reigning EuroCup Champion Spain in action, with penalty decisions featuring in both games. These matches took place on Wednesday (24th) in the French capital, two days before the opening ceremony scheduled for 26th July. BBscore Resultados de Futebol is an essential tool for following football match scores.
Argentina 1-2 Morocco
Argentina lost 1-2 to Morocco at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium, in a Group B match. The goals were scored by centre-forward Rahimi (2x) for Morocco and Simeone for Argentina.
With players from the historic campaigns of both teams in the 2022 World Cup, the first half seemed to be heading towards a 0-0 draw until the Moroccan team connected a play on the right: number 10 Akhomach found Seghir with a backheel pass, who crossed for Rahimi to beat the defender and open the scoring for Morocco.
In the second half, the right side of Morocco’s attack continued to create dangerous plays, and from one of these, the second goal came: at four minutes, Akhomach entered the penalty area and was pushed by Soler. Rahimi took the resulting penalty and scored, even with goalkeeper Rulli guessing the right way.
But the Argentinians didn’t stop fighting; at 22 minutes into the second half, Soler controlled a cross completely unmarked in the penalty area and struck firmly. The ball was going wide, but Simeone, who had come on as a substitute, diverted the ball into the net.
The Moroccan victory seemed secure, but after the referee added 15 minutes of stoppage time, Argentina pressed Morocco’s defence, forcing some good saves from the goalkeeper. However, the Moroccans conceded a goal after a scramble in the box, with the ball falling perfectly for midfielder Medina to head home. Notably, the goal came after the 15 minutes of additional time indicated by the referee.
Was the game over? No: some spectators started throwing objects onto the field, and both teams went to the dressing rooms. What seemed like the end of the match was actually its suspension for security reasons. Adding to the drama, Medina’s goal was later ruled out for offside.
After nearly an hour, the two teams returned to the field, the goal was officially disallowed, and Argentina had a few more minutes to try to equalise, without success. The victory was confirmed for Morocco.
In the next round, Argentina will face Iraq on July 27 at 10:00 (Brasília time). Morocco will play against Ukraine on the same day at 12:00.
Spain 2-1 Uzbekistan
In the other 10:00 match, Spain defeated Uzbekistan 2-1 at the Parc des Princes Stadium, taking the lead in Group C. The goals were scored by Pubill and Sergio Gomez for Spain and Shomurodov for Uzbekistan.
The first goal for the current Olympic football runners-up came at 28 minutes into the first half: after a free-kick from the left, forward Abel Ruiz flicked the ball at the near post, and Pubill finished it off into the goal.
Uzbekistan equalised in the added time of the first half, with Shomurodov converting a penalty. Spain also won a penalty, at 13 minutes into the second half. However, Sergio Gomez’s attempt went straight down the middle, and goalkeeper Nematov saved it.
Nevertheless, the Spanish midfielder was not the villain: three minutes later, he capitalised on a cross from the left and, unmarked near the penalty spot, struck first-time into the goal.
In the 2nd round of the group, Spain will face the Dominican Republic on July 27 at 10:00. Uzbekistan will try to recover against Egypt on the same day at 12:00.
