France All Set To Take Revenge From Argentina In Men’s Olympic Football Quarter-Finals

In their last group match of the men's Olympic football competition on Tuesday, France defeated New Zealand 3-0 to set up an exciting quarterfinal matchup with Argentina. Meanwhile, Argentina had already secured their place in the round of eight earlier in the day and France also advanced to the next round by scoring goals against New Zealand in Marseille through Jean-Philippe Mateta, Desire Doue, and Arnaud Kalimuendo for the French team. With three victories from three games and no goals allowed, France tops Group A. The United States advances as runners-up, defeating Guinea 3-0 behind two goals from Kevin Paredes. As a result, Argentina, the two-time gold medal winner, will play Thierry Henry's French team in Bordeaux on Friday. Argentina advanced to second place in Group B after defeating Ukraine 2-0 in Lyon.

The Burning Feud

The match, which takes place in Bordeaux on Friday, will be the first encounter between the two countries since players from Argentina were caught on camera making racist remarks against their French opponents as they were celebrating winning the Copa America earlier this month.

FIFA declared that it would look into the shouts, which included homophobic and racial insults directed against France's top striker, Kylian Mbappe.

The two teams will play each other for the first time since Argentina defeated France on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar following a 3-3 draw. The only Olympic players who played in that match were Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi and Julian Alvarez.

Mateta About The Rivalry With Argentina

Prior to the men's Olympic football tournament quarterfinal matchup against Argentina, France forward Jean-Philippe Mateta set the tone on Tuesday by stating that the nation had been negatively impacted by previous tensions with the South Americans.

After donning the captain's armband and scoring the game's first goal in Tuesday's 3-0 victory against New Zealand in Marseille, Crystal Palace striker Mateta remarked,

"With everything that has happened recently, everyone in France was affected, so we will see what happens in the quarterfinals."

Mateta stated,

"Argentina is a team that consistently makes it to tournament finals and is the current world champion. However, we'll first celebrate our win and then progressively get closer to that game."