The Egyptian national team have suffered a 3-1 defeat to Thierry Henry’s France in the semi-finals of the 2024 Olympics.
After a sensational run in the Olympics that saw Egypt beat Spain to the top spot in Group C, the Pharaohs managed to make their way into the semi-finals with a dramatic win over Paraguay on penalties.
Meanwhile, France narrowly edged Argentina 1-0 in the quarter-finals to set up a meeting with Egypt on Monday evening.
A fiery start to the game saw both sides come close to finding the breakthrough with Egypt’s Hamza Alaa keeping out Adrien Truffert’s effort in the opening five minutes.
Despite the hosts hitting the woodwork three times, it was Egypt who snatched the lead after 62 minutes through a bolt from Mahmoud Saber.
However, a lapse in concentration allowed France back in the game as Jean-Phillipe Mateta equalised seven minutes before the full-time whistle after a delightful pass by Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.
The game witnessed late drama as Les Blues were almost awarded a late penalty for a handball on Omar Fayed, who was later booked for dissent.
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The spot-kick was ultimately chalked off by the referee however due to a shove on the centre-back as he attempted to head the ball away from danger.
Having been booked going into extra time, Fayed later conceded another yellow card for a cynical challenge and was shown a red by the official, forcing his side to play a man down for the remainder of added time.
The sending-off paid dividends for France as they capitalised and took the lead through Mateta’s header before Olise added a third to seal the victory.
The defeat meant that Egypt would now have to play Morocco, who lost to Spain earlier, for the third spot and the bronze medal on Thursday, August 8th.