The quarter-final clash between these two old rivals is what many have been waiting for to boost the lacklustre appeal of football in Paris 2024, where the stadiums are almost empty except when the local team is playing.

Under an agreement between FIFA and the IOC, no players over the age of 23 (with the exception of three) are allowed on the limited list of 18 players presented by each team. Teams without star players, who are not obliged to release players as it is not a FIFA-organised tournament, affect the consideration of the general sports public at these Olympic Games.

Argentina have four World Cup winners from Qatar (reserve goalkeeper Rulli, key defender and starter Nicolás Otamendi, Manchester City striker Julián Álvarez and young Thiago Almada, who played a handful of minutes under Scaloni in the Arab country).

For this game, another coach, like Mascherano for the Argentines and Henry for the French. Two former glories will face each other on the bench. The Frenchman won the title at France 98, while the Argentine is a double gold medallist (as a starter) at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Both know they are facing the most important opponent and match of the championships. For the French, it will be a rematch of sorts after their defeat to Argentina 20 months ago. For Argentina, winning on the road and in a hostile environment will be a challenge in their quest for a third Olympic gold, which would make them the most successful team in history (a gold medal would see them level with Hungary and Great Britain, although with more silver medals they would finish first).

It will also be the first meeting between the two nations since Argentina's players were recorded singing chants deemed racist by the French public, creating an unprecedented hostile environment for Argentina at a sporting competition.

The chants even led to a diplomatic incident after Argentina's vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, posted on X accusing France of hypocrisy and being a "colonialist country" for its actions in Africa and various overseas territories. "Enough with the fake outrage, hypocrites," the vice-president added, prompting President Milei to apologise and declare that the remarks did not reflect the official position of the Argentine Republic.

Argentina's players have already been booed by rival fans in almost every sport at the Olympic tournament, and they can expect a harsh welcome in Bordeaux, where the match will be played on Friday at 21:00 CEST.

"Everything that has happened recently has affected everyone in France, so we will see what happens in the quarter-finals," warned Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta after the hosts finished the group stage with three wins from three.

Friday's clash will also be the first between the teams since the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, which Argentina won on penalties after an epic 3-3 draw.

Nicolás Otamendi and Julián Álvarez started on that occasion and are expected to play again on Friday, while France will be without the players who lost the second final in their history.

"If we want to win the medal, we have to be ready to play against any opponent anywhere," Argentina's Thiago Almada told his country's TyC Sports.

Just as Argentina have Otamendi and Álvarez, but not many other stars, France is led by Alexandre Lacazette and has Bayern Munich's Michael Olise in their ranks.

The winners will advance to a semi-final in Lyon next Monday against either Egypt or 2004 silver medallists Paraguay, who will meet in the quarter-finals in Marseille.

The other two quarter-final matches take place on Friday, with Morocco taking on the United States in Paris and the other qualifiers, Spain, meeting Japan in Lyon.

Spain will be seeking further glory a few weeks after winning Euro 2024 as they go for their second Olympic men's football gold medal after winning as hosts at Barcelona 1992.

Japan, for their part, arrived at these Olympic Games with a young squad but was the only team other than France to win all three of their group matches.