France to play Argentina in Olympic quarter-finals

Hosts France will play Argentina in the Olympic men’s football quarter-finals after progressing to the last eight by beating New Zealand to top Group A.

Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta got the opening goal for a dominant France who registered an impressive 34 shots to New Zealand’s nine.

Mateta gave them a 19th-minute lead and New Zealand soon found themselves placed under relentless pressure as the hosts looked to add to their tally.

They managed to hold out until the 71st minute, but the Kiwis’ defence eventually cracked and Desire Doue tucked home from close range before Arnaud Kalimuendo fired home a near-post drive three minutes later.

France finish the group stage having won each of their three games following victories over the United States and Guinea.

Six of the quarter-finalists have been confirmed and the final two will be known after Israel play Japan and Paraguay face Mali at 20:00 BST.

Argentina, Spain, Egypt, Morocco, United States all through

Earlier on Tuesday, a stunning Thiago Almada strike helped Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Group B.

Almada charged through the Ukraine defence before curling home from around 25 yards out. Claudio Echeverri then scored a late tap-in.

But Morocco topped Group B following a 3-0 win against Iraq as they finished level on points and goal difference with Argentina but beat the South American side in their opening game.

The USA progress alongside France from Group A on goal difference after beating Guinea 3-0, with the final-day results seeing them finish above New Zealand.

Elsewhere, Spain suffered a shock 2-1 defeat against Egypt and finished as runners-up in Group C, with their opponents leapfrogging them to go top.

It took Spain until the final minute of normal time to pull one back, with Samu Omorodion’s reply coming after two Ibrahim Adel goals.

The Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan, who both fail to progress, drew 1-1.