Spain continued its impressive run in men’s soccer this summer.
One month after winning the Euro 2024, the Spaniards will play for a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics after a 2–1 victory over Morocco in the semifinals on Aug. 5.
After trailing 1–0, Spain tied the game with a goal by midfielder Fermin Lopez in the 65th minute. Then, substitute defender Juanlu Sanchez took a deft pass from Lopez, beat his defender, and scored the game-winner from inside the penalty area in the 84th minute.
Morocco forward Soufiane Rahimi made history with his sixth goal of the tournament on a penalty kick in the 36th minute. He became the first African player to score in five consecutive Olympic matches.
Spain will face the winner of France and Egypt in the gold medal match.
It was the first meeting between Spain and Morocco in the Olympics since 2012, when their match ended in a scoreless draw. Spain had won all three of its semifinal games in men’s soccer in its Olympic history.
Spain has played well in the Olympic tournament for much of the decade. In the last Olympic Games in Japan, Spain advanced to the gold medal match, where it lost to Brazil 2–1. This year, the Spaniards finished second in Group C behind Egypt and earned victories over Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic to advance to the knockout stage.
Spain rolled past Japan 3–0 in the quarterfinals before dispatching Morocco.
Spain got a boost in the semifinals with the return of Barcelona prospect Pau Cubarsi, who was suspended for the quarterfinal game against Japan for amassing too many yellow cards.
Meanwhile, it’s been a hugely successful tournament for Morocco, which won Group B with wins over South American power Argentina and then Iraq. Morocco also was stellar defensively, holding the United States to just one shot on goal.
Even though Spain has a more decorated history in men’s soccer, Morroco was not intimidated. Morocco had an upset victory over Spain in the Round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in its history and maintained that confidence.
The referee, Ilgiz Tantashev, had to leave in the 10th minute after colliding with a Moroccan player and was replaced by Glenn Nyberg. The match was delayed for about seven minutes, allowing Nyberg time to warm up and become the head referee. The delay added 12 minutes of injury time to the first half.
Spain controlled the early part of the play and had several creative chances, but Morocco goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui managed to make several nice saves.
Morocco took the lead in the 33rd minute when Amir Richardson was fouled in the penalty area on a challenge from Pablo Barrios. Rahimi scored from the spot, shooting the ball into the bottom right corner in the 36th minute past Spain goalkeeper Arnau Tenas, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain.
Rahimi, who plays club soccer for Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, is having a successful year and won the Asian Champions League last season. He was the league’s top scorer with 13 goals.
Spain played with a sense of urgency and put together several quick counterattacks after the goal, but Morocco stayed organized defensively. In injury time, Spain midfielder Alex Baena managed a shot from just outside the penalty area that went just wide of the near post.
Morroco outshot Spain 7–4 in the first half, but the Spaniards had the better of possession, 54 percent to 48 percent.
Barrios had another chance to score early in the second half, but El Kajoui had another key save.
Spain finally broke through and tied the game 1–1 when Lopez stole the ball off the foot of a defender and slotted it into the goal. Lopez is a key player for his Spanish club team, Barcelona, and he won Euro 2024 with the full Spanish Men’s National Team this summer.
Spain maintained the pressure, and Sanchez, a club player for Sevilla, finally broke through with the game-winner.
