2024 Olympic Football Bracket: TV Schedule, Live Stream and Men’s Final Time | News, Results, Highlights, Stats and Gossip

LYON, FRANCE - AUGUST 5: Jean-Philippe Mateta #14 of the France team reacts during the men's semi-final match between France and Egypt during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de Lyon on August 5, 2024 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

France and Spain will face off in the final of the men’s Olympic soccer tournament on Friday, a clash between the two best teams in the two-week tournament.

Both teams boast explosive attacks that can put the ball in the net seemingly at will, while France have a defense that has conceded just one goal all tournament. This will be a duel of strengths on one of the grandest stages in international play.

Find out when and where to watch this high-stakes match, and get to know the players who will undoubtedly influence its outcome, with this gold medal match preview.

Television: USA Network, Telemundo

Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, fuboTV

Each team has a top scorer in these Olympics.

Spaniard Fermin Lopez scored four goals and provided an assist, while Frenchman Jean-Philippe Mateta also scored four goals.

Both are powerful strikers and are key to their team’s ability to close out games quickly and often. That shouldn’t change in Friday’s match, but it could be another French player who proves the difference in a titanic clash.

Football talent scout – Jacek Kulig @FTalentScout

Fermín López – all four goals at the Olympics.

☑️2x right leg
☑️2x left leg

Fantastic shooting technique, talent, decisions and movement. An incredible tournament for the 21-year-old Barcelona attacking midfielder. 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/w2XSjxDKIm

Michael Olise scored two goals, but more importantly, he provided four assists, proving that he is an excellent playmaker.

Mateta and Olise have formed a duo that has been hard to contain, let alone stop, for any opposing defence. They are third and fifth respectively in the Olympic points table, and their ability to find a free-kick has been crucial to the hosts’ unbeaten run in the tournament.

𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙞𝙁𝙟𝙞𝙟 ¹⁷ @Official_Benji_

Michael Olise, what an introductory assist, this guy is simply world class.😮‍💨

pic.twitter.com/5l7pYsTJMi

Spain have an attack that allows them to score points with France, thanks to Lopez’s efforts. The 21-year-old is one of the tournament’s two or three best players and looks set to be the face of Spanish football for years to come.

He is an extraordinary scorer who can find the back of the net from different positions on the pitch. The fact that he can score goals with both his right and left foot is what makes him so dangerous at such a young age.

The question is whether they can break through a defence that played brilliantly throughout the tournament, conceding the first goal in the semi-final against Egypt.

The ultimate difference may be La Roja’s ability to stay on the defensive.

The team has conceded a goal in each of its matches this tournament, with the exception of the quarter-final win over Japan. The team has been caught with players out of place, either due to poor patterns or lack of attention, which has given their opponents scoring opportunities.

If that happens on Friday, France will seize the opportunity from the start and will capitalize on it often en route to winning the country’s first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.