The men’s football event at Tokyo 2020 began on Wednesday with a Mexico victory over France, 4-1.
After a scoreless first half, Alexis Vega, Sebastian Cordova, Uriel Antuna, and Eduardo Aguirre scored to give Mexico a winning start to the Olympic tournament.
France scored one goal thanks to Andre-Pierre Gignac despite missing many of its top players due to their involvement in Euro 2020, but they still suffered a humiliating loss in their first Group A match.
Group C’s Spain was held to a scoreless draw by Egypt despite having a plenty of offensive options.
When it comes to Olympic rosters, Spain is one of the few that has included players that advanced to the quarterfinals at Euro 2020.
Among them are RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo and teen phenomenon Pedri. However, it was unable to breach the strong Egyptian defence.
Group B is now led by New Zealand after their 1-0 win over South Korea, and Group D is headed by Ivory Coast after their 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
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Spain Featured 6 Players
Spain, who had six players in their lineup that made the semi-finals of Euro 2020, also had a tough time against Egypt in Sapporo, where they dominated possession but failed to create many scoring opportunities.
Dani Ceballos, a Real Madrid midfielder who was on loan to Arsenal for two seasons, came closest to a goal with a shot that hit the post in the first half.
Defending champions Spain face up against Down Under rivals Australia in three days before finishing off Group C against Argentina.
Chris Wood of Burnley, one of three players over the age limit, scored the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute as New Zealand beat South Korea 1-0 in Kashima to get off to a winning start in Group B.
Brazil, the defending champions, will kick off their campaign later on Thursday against Germany.
Conclusion
France, led by Sylvain Ripoll, hasn’t medaled in the Olympics since 1984, when they won gold, and they completely fell apart in the second half at the Tokyo Stadium.
Alexis Vega scored for Mexico less than two minutes after halftime at the Tokyo Stadium, and Sebastian Cordova added a second goal in the 55th minute to make it 2-0.
