Spain beat Morocco and reached the men’s football Olympic final

Substitute Juanlu Sanchez scored the late winner as Spain beat Morocco 2-1 on Monday to reach the men’s Olympic football final. Morocco led the semi-final thanks to a Soufiane Rahimi penalty late in the first half at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. However, Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez equalized midway through the second period and then set up Sevilla right-back Sanchez to score the winning goal.

It is Spain’s second consecutive participation in the men’s Olympic football final. They had to settle for silver three years ago in Tokyo after losing in extra time to Brazil.

Spain, chasing a second gold medal after triumphing in Barcelona in 1992, travel to Paris for the final on Friday, facing hosts France or Egypt, who play the semi-finals later.

Morocco can still win its first medal by winning the bronze medal match, which will take place on Thursday in Nantes.

Last year’s U23 Africa Cup of Nations winners impressed on their way to the semi-finals and looked set to shock Spain when they went ahead after 37 minutes thanks to the prolific Rahimi. Morocco were awarded a penalty after a VAR check for a Pablo Barrios foul on Amir Richardson in the box, and Rahimi stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.

It was the tournament’s top scorer’s sixth Olympic goal, with four of his efforts coming from the penalty spot.

This aroused great Moroccan support, but Spain remained calm and equalized through their own star in the 66th minute.

Lopez, a member of Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 squad who scored twice in the Olympic quarter-final against Japan, took advantage of possession as the ball broke loose in the box and fired low into the net to make it 1-1.

With the prospect of extra time looming, Spain won in the 85th minute when Lopez found Sanchez leaping into the box and fired a low shot into the far corner.