Everton star Richarlison scored a 30-minute hattrick as Brazil beat Germany in the first match of the Tokyo Olympics Men’s Football Tournament. Elsewhere, Mexico thrashed France 4-1, while Spain drew with Egypt.
The Men’s Football Tournament got underway in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony, with all sixteen teams in action. There were some eye-catching results on Day 1 of the tournament, none more so than Mexico’s huge win over France.
Mexico thrashed world champions France 4-1 in the opening Group A match, with all five goals coming in the second half. Guadalajara’s Alexis Vega opened the scoring two minutes after the break before Sebastian Cordova added a second in the 55th minute. France pulled one back through Andre-Pierre Gignac – one of their overaged players – who scored from the spot. However, Mexico hit back and added two late goals to complete the route.
Elsewhere in Group A, hosts Japan beat South Africa 1-0 thanks to a goal by Real Madrid’s Takefusa Kubo. Japan take on Mexico next while France will play South Africa.
Chris Wood’s 70th-minute goal was enough to give New Zealand their first win. They beat South Korea on the night 1-0 – the scoreline matched by Romania in their narrow win over Honduras.
Argentina were handed a massive blow in their opening match of the tournament as they lost 2-0 to Australia. Lachlan Wales and Marco Tilio scored the goals on either side of the break to hand the Socceroos their first points.
Spain could only muster a goalless draw against Egypt despite fielding Pedri, who was named Euro 2020’s Young Player of the Tournament recently.
In Group D, a thirty-minute hattrick from Everton’s Richarlison helped Brazil beat Germany. Despite racing into an early lead, Brazil were pegged back to 3-2 by Germany’s late onslaught. However, Bayer Leverkusen’s Paulinho scored deep into stoppage time to deny the Germans a memorable comeback. Meanwhile, Franck Kessie was on the scoresheet as Ivory Coast beat Saudi Arabia in the other Group D match.
