Morocco won the 2024 Olympic Games football third-place final in Nantes on Thursday (6-0), thanks in particular to a double from Soufiane Rahimi, the top scorer in the men’s tournament before the final between France and Spain.
With a double from Soufiane Rahimi, who scored eight goals in this Olympic tournament, Morocco became the fourth African country to win a medal in Olympic football by easily beating Egypt ( 6-0, half-time: 2-0), Thursday, August 8, in Nantes, in the third-place play-off.
This match between Morocco, which had given the Spanish a hard time (1-2), and Egypt, which had led 1-0 against the French before losing after extra time (1-3, aet), had every chance of being decided mentally.
The 30,000 or so people who filled the Beaujoire, almost all of them supporting the Atlas Lions, may have made the difference. Because, after about twenty minutes when the Pharaohs’ pressure was a problem for them, the partners of captain Achraf Hakimi turned the match around in three minutes.
Egyptian Passive Defense
Betis Seville player Abde Ezzalzouli, receiving a cross from Hakimi, first combined with Zakaria El Ouahdi before unleashing a curling shot that went into the small opposite net of Hamza Alaa (1-0, 23rd).
The same Elzzazouli, following an indirect corner, then overflowed on the left side and centered for the header of the inevitable Soufiane Rahimi, for his seventh goal in six matches (2-0, 26th), including four penalties.
After that, there was hardly any reaction from Egypt, especially since in the 51st minute, in a very passive Egyptian defense, Bilal El Khannouss cut back towards the center and placed a “brushed” shot with his right foot for 3-0.
Rahimi then scored twice (4-0, 64th), from close range, his eighth goal of the tournament. He should logically end up as the top scorer, ahead of Frenchman Jean-Philippe Mateta and Spaniard Fermín Lopez who each scored four. Unless one of them performs exceptionally well in the France-Spain final
The Moroccan top scorer also provided an assist for Akram Nakach’s 5-0 (73rd). At the very end of the match, Hakimi, with a sublime free kick from almost 30 meters into the top corner, gave the air of a rout to the Egyptian defeat (6-0, 87th).
If Nigeria, with gold in 1996 in Atlanta, silver in 2008 in Beijing, and bronze in 2016 in Rio is by far the most rewarded African country, ahead of Cameroon which also won gold in 2000 in Sydney, Morocco joins Ghana, bronze medalist in 1992 in Barcelona.