Two Years Since Spain's Paris Gold

On 9 August 2024, Spain's men's Olympic team returned to the top step of the podium 32 years after first achieving the feat at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, with Vicente Miera in charge.

In the French capital, under the guidance of Santi Denia, Spain opened their campaign with group-stage victories over Uzbekistan (1–2) and the Dominican Republic (1–3) before suffering their only defeat of the tournament against Egypt (1–2).

Spain responded in the quarter-finals with a commanding 3–0 victory over Japan, as Fermín López scored twice—finishing as the tournament's second-highest scorer—while Abel Ruiz added the third.

The semi-final brought another Spanish victory, this time against Morocco (1–2). Fermín was on the scoresheet once again, with Juanlu Sánchez adding the decisive second goal to send Spain through to the final.

The gold-medal match against France (3–5) proved to be a dramatic contest. The hosts took an early lead, but another brace from Fermín and a goal from Álex Baena turned the game around. France fought back to level the score at 3–3 before the end of regulation time.

Extra time then belonged to Sergio Camello, who scored twice to seal the gold medal for Spain. His second goal, which completed the victory, came from an assist by Arnau Tenas.

For many of those players, the triumph represented the beginning of careers that would go on to reach even greater heights. Just two years later, Eric García, Álex Baena, Pau Cubarsí, Marc Pubill and Joan García would all become FIFA World Cup champions with Spain in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Their success underlines the extraordinary talent within that Paris squad—a generation that brought Olympic gold back to Spain after 32 years of waiting.