SEATTLE - The semifinals at the men's soccer tournament in Paris 2024 are set and, for the first time since Barcelona 1992, there will be no Latin American representation within the last four teams standing.
Argentina, Paraguay and the United States were all eliminated, which means that, for the first time in more than two decades, the men's Olympic champion will not come from the Americas. Latin American teams had won each of the last five gold medals dating back to Athens 2004, when Argentina won its first-ever gold medal thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez.
'La Albiceleste' retained its title in 2008 with a team that included Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María and Sergio Agüero, while Mexico made history at London 2012 by winning gold. The last two gold medals were also won by Latin American teams, as Brazil won both in 2016 and 2020.
Argentina's Olympic team, led by Javier Mascherano, lost 1-0 to France in the latest installment of the rivalry between both countries. An early goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta after only five minutes ended up being the difference between both teams, as one of Argentina's hopes for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics dissipated with the final whistle.
The United States men's also fell short of reaching a medal. After dropping their debut game against France, Team USA managed to win its last two group games and qualified to the knockout stages for the first time since Sydney 2000.
But Morocco was too much to handle for the Americans in the quarterfinals. A first-half penalty goal by Soufiane Rahimi was followed by three second-half goals as the 'Atlas Lions' sealed their ticket to the next round. The United States was one of two CONCACAF representatives at this year's Olympics, with the Dominican Republic making its debut.
Paraguay, who was making its first appearance at the men's Olympic soccer tournament since Athens 2004, was eliminated by Egypt after a dramatic penalty shootout. This was the third time ever that Paraguay managed to qualify to the Olympics and the first since winning silver in 2004.
France and Egypt will decide one of the finalists at the Décines-Charpieu Stadium in Lyon while Spain and Morocco will meet at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille, both games will be played on Aug. 5. It will not be the first time both nations face each other in the knockout stages of a major tournament, as the 'Atlas Lions' eliminated 'La Roja' in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
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