They might have been favorites to win a medal – any medal – before the start of the tournament, but France, Germany, and Argentina will be heading home from Tokyo empty-handed. The trio was eliminated in the group stage of the men’s football tournament.
Hosts Japan thrashed world champions France 4-0 to send the latter tumbling out of the Tokyo Olympics Men’s Football Tournament. Les Bleus narrowly avoided elimination on matchday two, as they came from behind thrice to beat South Africa 4-3. However, a big defeat at the hands of the hosts confirmed their fate.
Takefusa Kubo opened the scoring for Japan against France, making it three goals in three matches for himself. Hiroki Sakai added a second before half-time before a late flurry saw Japan add two more to the scoreline. In the second Group A match, Mexico beat South Africa three-nil to book their spot in the knockout stage as the runners-up.
At the end of the group stage, Group B remained the only one without any major surprises. South Korea booked their spot in the quarter-final with a 6-0 win over Honduras, a match which included a Hwang Ui-jo hattrick. The group winners were joined by New Zealand in the next round, following their draw against Romania.
Spain and Egypt qualified for the knockout stage from Group C after an exciting round of matches. All four teams in Group C – Spain, Egypt, Argentina, and Australia – remained eligible for qualification to the next round heading into matchday 3. However, Spain drew 1-1 against Argentina, eliminating the latter. Egypt, meanwhile, beat Australia 2-0 thanks to goals from Ahmed Rayyan and Amar Hamdy to secure second place.
In Group D, Germany needed to beat Ivory Coast to progress to the next round. However, they fell behind in the 69th minute through an own goal from Benjamin Henrichs. Eduard Lowen pulled a goal back for the Germans just three minutes later, but they were unable to find the winning goal to take them through to the next round. As a result, Ivory Coast progressed to the quarter-final along with Brazil.
