In men's field hockey, Spain scored an important 3-2 victory over Belgium, defying all pre-tournament predictions and avenging their 3-1 defeat at Tokyo 2020. This triumph booked Spain's place in the semi-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with a double chance of winning a medal. Spain's goals came from Jose Maria Basterra, Marc Reyne and Marc Miralles.

After an intense opening period, India and Great Britain kicked off a much-anticipated quarter-final clash. Great Britain were out to avenge their defeat at Tokyo 2020, when India won 3-1. 

In a tightly contested match, which was marred by the suspension of India's Amit Rohidas for punching William Calnan in the face with his stick (2 minutes into the second quarter), the recent Olympic bronze medallists had to play a defensive game for the majority of the match, despite taking the lead through Harmanpreet Singh's goal from a penalty corner (22').

Great Britain equalised through Lee Morton (27') and tried to turn the game around, but they couldn't match the outstanding performance of the Indian goalkeeper (man of the match) and the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the end of normal time.

The Indian goalkeeper was also instrumental in the penalty shoot-out that decided the semi-final place, saving one of the two penalties the English missed.

The Netherlands, who finished second in their group, lived up to the pre-match hype and triumphed over Australia, who finished third. The Europeans avenged their previous meeting, when the Kangaroos won 3-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time.

This match, however, was one of European dominance from start to finish, although the goals came in the second half. Duco Telgenkamp scored the Netherlands' first goal from a penalty corner 10 minutes into the third quarter. Despite Australia's best efforts to equalise, Thijs van Dam sealed the Netherlands' place in the semi-finals with a second goal seven minutes from time, setting up a meeting with Spain.

The match between Argentina and Germany began in a similar vein, with the score level at 1-1 after the first quarter. Buenos Aires-born Gonzalo Peillat, who won the gold medal with Argentina at Rio 2016, celebrated passionately after scoring Germany's second goal from a penalty corner, his speciality.

At the start of the third quarter, the second half remained evenly balanced, although Germany looked the stronger side. Argentina struggled against a physically strong German defence. With 12 minutes remaining, Agustin Mazzili deflected in a shot to make it 2-2 and set up a fierce battle for a place in the semi-finals.

In the final moments, Germany took the lead with 6 minutes remaining and then defended the result as best they could. With 3 minutes remaining, Argentina attempted a desperate comeback by taking off their goalkeeper and bringing on an extra field player. They won a couple of penalty corners, but Germany's young goalkeeper made crucial saves as time ran out.

The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday 6 August at 14:00 and 19:00 CEST with Spain v Netherlands and India v Germany battling for medals in the same stadium that hosted the last Olympic Games in France exactly a century ago.

The group stage of the Paris 2024 Women's Hockey Tournament ended last Saturday and the quarter-final matches have now been confirmed.

China vs. Australia, Germany vs. Argentina, Netherlands vs. Great Britain and Belgium vs. Spain will be played on Monday 5 August at 10:00, 12:30, 17:30 and 20:00 CEST.

The winners will progress to the semi-finals, where they will compete for a medal at the Yves-du-Manoir Olympic Stadium in Colombes.