The Olympic men’s soccer semifinals got off to an exciting start with Spain coming from a goal down to beat Morocco 2-1 in Marseille to reach Friday’s final. La Roja have already won UEFA Euro 2024 as well as the UEFA under-19 Euro this summer and now there could be a gold medal to go with that too. France or Egypt will await in Friday’s final after Monday’s second semifinal but the Spanish renaissance is well and truly in full bloom. The Atlas Lions have enjoyed strong support all tournament in France but they can only fight for bronze against either Les Bleus or the Pharoahs.
Olympic semifinal scores
Morocco 1, Spain 2
France , Egypt (3 p.m. ET kick-off)
Morocco 1, Spain 2: La Roja sure of a medal
What a stunning summer of 2024 this is turning out to be for Spanish soccer. After UEFA Euro 2024 and the UEFA under-19 Euro, Spain are now into an Olympic final with only France or Egypt standing between them and a gold medal. It did not look like it would be the case at one point with Morocco going 1-0 up after 37 minutes through Soufiane Rahimi’s penalty for his sixth goal of the tournament meaning that he has scored at least once in every single game so far in France. The Atlas Lions’ Paris Games is not over yet and the 28-year-old could add to his tally in the bronze medal game but it will have been crushing for the Moroccans to see Spain recover in the second half. First of all, Fermin Lopez levelled things up after 66 minutes before turning provider for substitute Juanlu Sanchez to score the winning goal five minutes from time. Despite 10 minutes of added time at Stade Velodrome, Tarik Sektioui’s men fell agonizingly short when a potential final against France in Paris had beckoned.
