France won against Argentina courtesy of an early goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta in the fifth minute. After the final whistle, a fight broke out instead of celebrating the win. The players pushed and shoved for several minutes before officials separated them.
According to sportsbook software experts, Mateta and captain Alexandre Lacazette were celebrating when they witnessed the altercation after the match. Henry, Javier Mascherano, and Lacazette hurried to prevent an employee from getting involved and break it up.
Stewards and riot police surrounded the Argentine fans, while French fans kept celebrating. In stoppage time, the team sent Enzo Millot to the bench. However, the referees sent him off to take part in the fight, so he will miss the semifinals.
France Won Against Argentina in Soccer Quarterfinals
The match was more of a rematch between the two teams than a World Cup championship game. Ever since Argentina’s thrilling penalty shootout victory in 2022, French supporters have been yearning for it. An unpleasant video of Argentine players celebrating their Copa América triumph last month went viral, and it featured them singing a song insulting to French players of African descent. According to sports news reports, this led to a racism scandal, which heightened emotions before the game.
The home crowd booed Argentine players every time they touched the ball. In addition, French fans jeered during the Argentine national anthem. Within five minutes, France had escalated the tension even further.
When Michael Olise brought in a corner, Mateta was there to head it past Gerónimo Rulli, the Argentine goalie, and the hosts took the lead. The Argentines bounced back strongly from an early deficit and should have been level at the break. Giuliano Simeone skillfully sent a bouncing header well over the crossbar from just inside the six-yard box as the goal loomed.
Tensions Were High During the Match
Interactions between Mateta and an Argentine teammate receiving treatment inside the penalty area momentarily escalated during first-half stoppage time. Mateta was shoved away. After a swift adjustment by Lacazette, Rulli embraced him.
After Mascherano’s yellow card, the crowd cheered, and the home team continued to taunt their opponents in the second half with the song “Ils sont où les Argentins?” The Argentines—where are they? The scorecard did not include them.
France defended strongly in the second half and appeared to have scored again in the 84th minute with a deflected effort from Olise. France had enough to secure the victory, even if the goal was disallowed due to a previous foul that VAR reviewed. While France was crowned European champions in 1984, they also won their lone Olympic gold medal the same year.
Make no mistake: Egypt advanced to the semifinals earlier in the day with a 5-4 shootout victory over Paraguay. After regular and extra time ended in a scoreless tie, Egypt’s Ibrahim Adel scored the game-winning penalty kick after their goalie, Hamza Alaa, stopped Marcelo Perez.
On the same day, Spain breezed over Japan 3-0, advancing to face Morocco in the semifinals. Morocco had previously beaten the US 4-0. The victory was clinched for La Roja, who had already defeated Japan in the quarterfinals of the postponed Tokyo Olympics three years prior, thanks to a brace from Fermín López and an 86th-minute effort from Abel Ruiz.
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