Agency :
Hosts France reached the Olympic men’s football semi-finals for the first time in 40 years with a 1-0 win over Argentina thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first-half goal in a grudge match in Bordeaux on Friday.
France will face Egypt for a place in the final and Morocco meet Spain in the other semi.
Thierry Henry’s France grabbed an early lead as they sought revenge in a repeat of the last World Cup final in which Argentina beat France.
Earlier on Friday, Egypt claimed a dramatic win on penalties over Paraguay after a 1-1 draw in regular time in Marseille.
Morocco outclassed the United States at Parc des Princes with an emphatic 4-0 win, including two penalties and a strike from Paris St Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, to reach their first Olympic semi-finals.
Spain beat Japan 3-0 courtesy of a Fermin Lopez double and Abel Ruiz’s late effort.
Barcelona midfielder Lopez scored superb goals in the 11th and 73rd minutes, and Ruiz struck late to secure the win for La Roja who beat Japan three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics semi-finals.
Mateta opened the scoring for France after five minutes with a towering header in the six-yard box following a corner.
Argentina pushed for an equalizer, but a glaring miss by Giuliano Simeone and poor finishing denied them.
At Marseille Stadium, Paraguay went close to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since their bronze-medal run at the 2004 Games in Athens.
But Diego Gomez’s 71st-minute strike from a fine Julio Enciso through ball was canceled out two minutes from time by Ibrahim Adel’s close-range header.