A nervy start with tetchy moments indicated how much was at stake in this gold medal match.
France adapted best and were rewarded in the 11th minute when Alex Baena’s poor clearance under pressure from Alexandre Lacazette fell to Enzo Millot, who wrongfooted Arnau Tenas to open the scoring.
Baena atoned for his error a mere seven minutes later, playing a pinpoint pass that Fermin Lopez diverted past Guillaume Restes’ clutches for his fifth goal of the tournament.
Lopez’s incredible goalscoring form continued, as Restes’ stop to deny Abel Ruiz proved futile with the Barcelona midfielder pouncing to reach the loose ball ahead of him and convert.
Baena then left the French goalkeeper rooted with a pinpoint free-kick after Loic Bade had brought down Juan Miranda, scoring Spain’s third goal in a remarkable 10 minutes.
Les Bleus looked visibly frustrated in the aftermath of that period and were denied the lift they craved in first-half injury time, as Tenas superbly tipped Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header wide and Michael Olise’s flick trickled agonisingly wide.
It took just seven second-half minutes for Thierry Henry to take action with a double change, but his wait for a lifeline continued as Castello Lukeba’s shot was deflected behind and Manu Kone’s header bounced over off the crossbar.
Spain were seeing off pressure well but couldn’t take their opportunities to ease it, with Miranda and Ruiz both blazing their efforts off-target.
Tenas then got down brilliantly to palm Kone’s strike wide but was deemed helpless when Olise’s low free-kick in the 79th minute took a touch off Maghnes Akliouche and bounced out of his reach.
The rapturous celebrations were repeated when Benat Turrientes blatantly held Arnaud Kalimuendo to concede a penalty and the Parc des Princes erupted when Mateta converted from the spot in the 93rd minute.
Turrientes hit the crossbar in the final moments of injury time as the match went to extra time, where Sergio Camello delightfully dinked the ball over Restes to win gold for Spain having initially been on their standby list.
The 23-year-old then applied salt to French wounds by breaking forward and applying a near-identical for his second in the final moments.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sergio Camello (Spain)
