France Dominates to Set Up quarter-final Clash vs Argentina
Paris, France – France secured their spot in the Olympic quarter-finals with a 3-0 victory over New Zealand, topping Group A and setting up a highly anticipated clash with Argentina.
Les Bleus remains the only team in the tournament to have won all of their matches so far and made light work of their opponents on Tuesday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was captaining the side with Alexandre Lacazette on the bench, opened the scoring after the ball went into his path before finishing for Alex Paulsen in the 19th minute.
In a game in which Les Bleus piled up 34 shots at the Orange Velodrome, their dominance was rewarded with two quick goals late on.
Desire Doue doubled the home side’s advantage from close range, and Arnaud Kalimuendo rounded off the scoring three minutes later to keep France perfect.
The French won their first three games at the Games for the first time in history, while also keeping three clean sheets at the Olympics for the first time.
In another Group A encounter, the United States qualified for the tournament’s knockout stages for the first time since 2000 with a 3-0 victory over Guinea.
United States returned to action this Friday when they faced Group B winners Morocco, who clinched the top spot with a 3-0 win over Iraq while also finishing ahead of Argentina.
