There will be a new champion of Paralympic blind football as Argentina overthrew five-time gold medallists Brazil in a dramatic semi-final penalty-shootout.   

Argentina will face France in the Paralympic blind football gold medal match under the iconic Eifel Tower on Saturday (7 September) as both sides won their respective semi-finals.

The world champions Argentina advanced to the final after defeating five-time Paralympic gold medallists Brazil on penalties. Brazil had dominated blind football, winning gold at every Paralympic Games since the introduction of the sport at Athens 2004.

The two rivals faced each other in a repeat of the semi-final of London 2012. There was no room for error and both sides put their body on the line to score and to avoid conceding. The game went to penalties after it remained 0-0 at full time. After a series of well-taken penalties, it reached sudden death. Tragically for Brazil, Argentina edged a historic 4-3 victory after Osvaldo Fernandez converted from the spot and the subsequent penalty from Ricardinho Alves hit the post.

Photo Description: Osvaldo Fernandez shoots his penalty past Brazilian goalkeeper Luan into the right corner Ⓒ Daniel Zappe / IBSA

“It was a dream to play against Brazil, but when I took that ball to hit the penalty, it felt like it weighed a thousand kilos. The tension was incredible. I hit it and I didn’t know if it went in or not. When I realised it did, I felt great relief more than anything. I’m happy for my teammate ‘Coqui’ (Froilan Abdul Padilla’s nickname) because this is his last big event and we will play in the final. I don’t want him to retire without winning a gold medal at the Paralympics and now we will fight for it,” said Osvaldo Fernandez.

The semi-final match between France and Colombia earlier on was another intense game with shots and tackles flying in at both ends. Jhon Elder Gonzalez Hernandez came close to scoring early in the second half when he danced through the French defence in the penalty area and had his shot saved by French keeper Alessandro Bartolomucci. Alessandro made another save to prevent Juan David Perez scoring a left foot shot from a corner. However, France’s experience trumped Colombia as captain Frederic Villeroux thumped a shot past Jhohan Daria Ardila Cardenas with four minutes left to confirm a 1-0 win. France’s spot in the gold medal match is their first since London 2012. Reflecting on qualifying for the gold medal match, Frederic Villeroux said:

“It was a close game, and I’m very happy it was us who won it. We set our initial goal of getting to the semifinals. Now we have surpassed that, and we want to keep going.”

Photo Description: French players applaud the fans after qualifying for the gold medal match at the Eiffel Tower Stadium Ⓒ Daniel Zappe / IBSA

In the classification matches, China defeated Morocco 1-0 to earn fifth place. Similar to their approach in their last Group A match against Brazil on Tuesday (3 September), China went all out in attack and created some dangerous chances from the first whistle. In the ninth minute, Chinese defender Liu Meng stole the ball from Morocco and fired a strike past Morocco’s goalkeeper Khalid Kermadi.

Turkiye claimed seventh place as second-half goals from Hasan Stay and Emire Aslan sealed a 2-0 win against Japan. Satay got on the scoresheet first, who arrowed a shot from a free-kick into the left corner. Aslan got the second goal when he drove past three Japanese players and slotted the ball home in the right corner.

The gold and bronze medal bouts will take place on Saturday (7 September), with today serving as an extra rest day the four nations who will be battling for a podium finish.

The Paralympic blind football gold medal match will see the world champions Argentina take on hosts France at 7:00pm local time. The gold medal match is set to be a spectacular conclusion to the Paris 2024 blind football competition, as both nations will be vying for the first ever gold medal.

Former Paralympic blind football champions Brazil will face debutants Colombia for bronze at 5:30pm local time. With both teams from South America, this thrilling matchup guarantees that the bronze medal will remain in the continent.

By Keon Richardson / For IBSA