French football legend Thierry Henry stood with arms outstretched, basking in the adoration of the jubilant crowd.
With the men’s football tournament final within reach, France had been pushed to the limits by Egypt in Monday’s semifinal at Stade de Lyon.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, surrounded by ecstatic teammates, celebrated his second goal in a 3-1 victory that propels France into a showdown with Spain at Parc des Princes on Friday.
“It was like, I don’t know how to say – it was incredible,” Mateta said.
France vs. Spain will ensure a European gold medalist at the Olympics for the first time in 32 years.
The host nation’s place in the final looked in serious doubt as Egypt closed in on an upset after leading through Mahmoud Saber’s 62nd-minute goal.
France had hit the frame of the goal three times before Mateta equalized in the 83rd minute, sending the game into extra time.
His second goal came in the 99th minute, and Michael Olise added France’s third in the 108th minute.
“It’s not easy, right? We knew that. But at the end of the day, we kept on coming. We kept on trying. We kept on creating from the wing and trying to play, and we got our reward,” France coach Henry said.
This result guarantees gold for a European team for the first time since Spain’s victory at Barcelona 1992 and ends the dominance of Latin American nations, which had won the last five tournaments – two each for Brazil and Argentina, and one for Mexico.
It also gives Henry the chance to add to his storied career, having won the World Cup and European Championship with France as a player. This would be his first major honor in a coaching career still in its early stages.
“I’m not there yet. We have the medal, that’s for sure. Let’s not talk about the gold,” he said.
France’s only Olympic gold came at Los Angeles 1984, and it also took silver when the Games were held in Paris in 1900.
One of the pre-tournament favorites, Henry’s team had entered the semifinal with a perfect record, having taken maximum points in the group phase and beaten Argentina in the quarterfinals.
But Egypt had already proved capable of surprising by beating Spain to top its group and came close to another upset when Saber fired a shot past France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes.
By that point, Loic Bade had already headed against the post in the first half.
Egypt’s goal sparked a reaction from French fans, who roared loudly to lift their team.
Egypt keeper Alaa Hamza denied Alexandre Lacazette from point-blank range. France hit the frame of the goal twice more in quick succession when Lacazette headed against the post and Bade hit the bar with a follow-up header.
The equalizer finally came when Olise strode through the middle of the field and slipped a pass to Mateta. With Hamza advancing to cut down the angle, Mateta got to the ball first and swept it home.
France thought it had won a penalty deep into stoppage time when VAR reviewed a handball by Omar Fayed. Referee Said Martinez spent a long time reviewing the sideline monitor before eventually ruling there had been a foul in the buildup.
While that reprieve sent the game to extra time, Fayed was sent off in the 92nd minute, having been booked during the review of the potential penalty.
France took advantage of the extra man and went ahead with Mateta’s second goal of the match. Olise was at the heart of it, swinging a ball into the box for Kiliann Sildillia to head across goal.
Mateta rose to head past Hamza.
Olise then got on the scoresheet himself, firing a low left-footed shot from inside the box.
“We showed the team that we have character, and we showed the fans and everyone that we have character,” Mateta said. “We can believe we can score, and we do.”
Egypt, which has finished fourth on two previous occasions – Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964 – will play Morocco in an all-African bronze medal match in Nantes on Thursday.
