Paris Olympics 2024: France's Win over Argentina Triggers Brawl as Long-Standing Tensions Escalate

In the men's football quarter-final at the Paris Olympics 2024 France defeated Argentina 1-0. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the solitary goal for France in the fierce game, therefore guaranteeing their semi-final position. Both sides gave outstanding performances in the game; France's Loïc Badé and Argentina's Julián Álvarez displayed particularly great ability. With this victory, France moves on to the next round, proving their tournament might and will.

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France vs Argentina match at the Paris Olympics leads to a MAJOR brawl in the quarterfinals 

The Paris Olympics 2024' triumph by France versus Argentina resulted in a fight, thereby aggravating relations between the two football giants.

Friday's 1-0 victory for France against Argentina advanced them to the men's football competition's semi-finals at the Paris Olympics 2024. In the first half Crystal Palace attacker Jean-Philippe Mateta made the deciding goal with a strong header. VAR denied Thierry Henry's team's second goal for a foul in the later phases of the game.

The match was expected to be highly charged, in light of a recent racism scandal involving both teams. Enzo Fernandez, following Argentina's triumph in the Copa America last month, live-streamed himself singing a derogatory song targeting French players. The song, sometimes recited by certain Argentine supporters, had racist comments on the African ancestry of French players and a derogatory term targeting transgender individuals.

Fernandez received extensive condemnation and was publicly admonished by his French Chelsea colleague Wesley Fofana, who stated, "Le football en 2024: racisme decomplexe," which translates to "Football in 2024: unabashed racism." According to talkSPORT, all French players at Chelsea, including Wesley Fofana, Axel Disassi, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, and Malang Sarr, discontinued following Enzo Fernandez on social media. Enzo Fernandez has since expressed his remorse to his fellow club members face-to-face.

Regarding the event, the French Football Federation complained to FIFA. The Bordeaux crowd on Friday night jeered the Argentine national anthem and players every time they had prolonged possession.

When the final whistle blew, players from both sides started fighting in the middle of the pitch, escalating tensions. Players fled via the tunnel towards another altercation that had broken out inside the stadium after the first one had faded. What what happened in the tunnel is still unknown.

During a post-match interview, France coach Thierry Henry refuted any claims that the victory was motivated by a desire for retaliation following France's defeat to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final. The legendary Theirry Henry said: 

"We don't take this match as revenge because the World Cup was with other teams.

"I apologise for the final disturbance. It's not what I wanted and I couldn't control it. In fact, they [officials] kicked out [sent off] a player."

France will now face Egypt in the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics 2024 (football) on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. On the other hand, Spain will face Morocco in the 2nd semifinal.