Hosts France secured their second straight win thanks to a goal from Kiliann Sildillia to beat Guinea 1-0, while Spain and Japan reached the quarter-finals on the second day of the Olympic men's football tournament on Saturday.
France struggled to find their feet in Bordeaux after their opening 3-0 Group A win over the United States but found a way to overcome a solid Guinea side who had two shots disallowed in the first half, with Sildillia's brilliant header in the 75th minute.
Sildillia brought relief to the French fans when he connected with Michael Olise's great cross and sent the crowd into raptures.
Spain secured their place in the quarter-finals with their second win in Group C by beating the Dominican Republic 3-1, while Argentina defeated Iraq by the same scoreline in Group B.
Argentina bounced back from a chaotic opening defeat to Morocco to boost its chances of reaching the quarter-finals by sitting top of its group on goal difference.
Javier Mascherano's Argentina opened the scoring in Lyon after 14 minutes thanks to a volley from Thiago Almada, but Iraq equalised with a header from Aymen Hussein seconds before the break.
A second-half header from substitute Luciano Gondou and a superb goal from Ezequiel Fernández six minutes from time secured all three points for the 2004 and 2008 gold medallists.
“It was a difficult match. Iraq is a physically strong team. The only thing we needed was to win, it's a big relief,” said Mascherano.
“We had some difficulties, but in the second half we found a lot of play inside and finishing from the outside.”
In Bordeaux, Spain dominated the Dominican Republic from the start and took the lead in the 24th minute with a goal from Fermín López. However, the debutants equalised with a goal from Ángel Montes de Oca, who scored the first Olympic goal for the country.
Alejandro Baena and Miguel Gutiérrez sealed the victory against the Dominicans, who were reduced to 10 men before the break following Edison Azcona's red card.
The United States scored three times in 30 minutes in a crushing 4-1 win over Group A rival New Zealand in Marseille, while Paraguay scored twice in stoppage time to beat Israel 4-2 in their Group D clash at the Parc des Princes.
Also in Group D, Mali missed a penalty at the last minute and could not avoid losing 1-0 to Japan, who have qualified for the quarter-finals after beating Paraguay 5-0 in their opening match.
Uzbekistan were eliminated from their first Olympic Games after losing 1-0 to Egypt in Nantes following a goal from Ahmed Koka in their second Group C match.
In Group B, Ukraine, playing with 10 men, secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Morocco in Saint Etienne thanks to Ihor Krasnopir's late winner.
