There were dramatic scenes following Thierry Henry’s France and Javier Mascherano’s Argentina's clash at the Olympics, where they went head to head upon the final whistle in the quarter final match up.

The match, held on Friday in the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, home of the recently bankrupt FC Girondins de Bordeaux, boasted multiple layers of tension, ranging from the result of the World Cup final two and a half years ago, to more recent controversy that played out over social media.

France 1-0 Argentina

The game itself got off to a flier, with Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta giving France the lead after five minutes thanks to a glancing header from a corner taken by former teammate and Bayern Munich star Michael Olise.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌-𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 🔗💙

After providing the cross for Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal against Argentina, Michael Olise is now on 3️⃣ assists, more than anyone else at the Olympics this year 🔝🔥#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/eJJyqp9Ko2

— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) August 4, 2024

Olise would then double the lead for the home nation late on after a deflected strike, only to see the goal ruled out, as Monaco midfielder Maghnes Akliouche was deemed to have been offside in the build up.

Argentine had their chances, including a second half long range effort from Kevin Zanon that was acrobatically tipped over by goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, but despite taking more attempts on goal than France, they only forced Restes into two saves in total, and profligacy in front of goal eventually hurt them.

Although Argentina had the electric talent of Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez up front, backed by the talented Thiago Almada in the 10 position, few clear cut openings fell for them, and they were limited to efforts from distance or half chances in crowded areas.

Why was there controversy between Argentina and France?

Prior to kick off, the Bordeaux crowd loudly booed during the Argentine national anthem, almost completely drowning out what is a beautiful melody, and it set the tone for a high tempo, combative affair.

Of course, the French fans have not forgotten their dramatic defeat to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, where they lost agonizingly in a penalty shootout after seeing one of the best games of modern times finish in a 3-3 stalemate.

However, this was only one half of the grudge between the two nations. The more recent, and certainly more controversial factor contributing to the tension in Bordeaux was the recent video that surfaced during Argentina’s celebrations after winning the Copa America in July.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez started a live story on social media platform Instagram showing the squad celebrating on the team bus. During the celebration, Fernandez and other members of the squad appeared to sing a derogatory song about the French national team, criticizing their squad for the lack of home grown players and their predominantly African roots.

Wesley Fofana on his Instagram story: "Football in 2024: uninhibited racism 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️"

Did he just confirm that the allegations about Enzo being racist are real?

It's time to end racism in football. Name all of them pic.twitter.com/TRxvbHitLZ

— Dennoh (@CFC_dennoh) July 16, 2024

Fernandez’ French Chelsea team mate Wesley Fofana took offense to the song, and responded with a post of his own which stated: “Football in 2024: uninhibited racism.”

Allegedly, the issue at Chelsea has been sorted out, with many saying that the players offended, including Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Christopher Nkunku, have accepted Fernandez' apology and will not push for any form of punishment.

Enzo Fernandez and Wesley Fofana in training 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/ecRBBRDwA7

— 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗢 (@Philipmelo126) July 31, 2024

However, the French fans did not forgive quite as easily, and the resonant booing during the Argentine anthem was a testament to the offense the song had caused.

What happened after the final whistle?

There was a moment after the final whistle when it looked like the match would end peacefully. Team coaches and former Barcelona players Thierry Henry and Javier Mascherano shook hands on the touchline and walked off, and those watching on TV could be forgiven for thinking that was that.

All of us can now agree that the biggest football rivalry at the national team level is now Argentina vs France.

It is now looking like an eye for an eye. Another fight btw them after the final whistle in the QF of the Olympic which France won.#Paris2024… pic.twitter.com/RVXj2rwfFG

— Jagaban_MCFC 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@mcfc_jagaban) August 2, 2024

However, the next shot showed French players and Argentine players running towards each in a mass of light and dark blue and soon, a messy scrum ensued. Players were grabbing each other's shirt, coaching teams were either getting involved or trying to intervene, and the volume inside the stadium likely hit a new record as the crowd roared their support for their players.

Mascherano threw himself into the melee, trying to separate players from both sides and attempting to get his team under control, but Henry nonchalantly walked down the touchline, perhaps happy to see his team exact a little bit of payback on football’s “public enemy number one”.

It took 2 minutes for the sides to retreat down the tunnel, though there would likely having been verbals all the way to the changing rooms, and when the French team came back out to milk the applause from their victory, they raced over to the Argentinian quarter of the stands and, perhaps a little brashly, celebrated right in front of them.

France 🇫🇷 players vs Argentina 🇦🇷 fans pic.twitter.com/8UaBGX7dgV

— DREE LEGEND🇨🇦🇨🇩 (@DreeLegend) August 3, 2024

A chorus of boos rang out, but France had avenged at least a small part of the events of the last two and a half years, with young French midfielder Enzo Millot even receiving a red card for an unseen offence in the crowd.

The damage was done. France and Argentina had now gone toe toe toe both on and off the field, and in knocking out a talented Argentina squad on their way to the semi-finals, foundations were layed that appear to have set up one of the most fiery rivalries on the international stage in decades.

Keep an eye on the draw for the 2026 World Cup; if the two sides are drawn close together, things could become just a little bit more spicy.