After taking their third win a row, this time against Argentina, 38:27, Denmark secured a quarter-final berth with two matches to go, while the South Americans are yet to claim their maiden points in the competition. Mathias Gidsel stopped short of becoming the second player to score 15 goals at the Olympics, with the record still held by Poland's Jerzy Klempel.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
Denmark vs Argentina 38:27 (19:14)

While Denmark had won both their previous matches at Paris 2024, Argentina had suffered two defeats against Norway and Hungary, conceding as many as 71 goals combined in those encounters. The South Americans were under pressure, but although they fought hard, they were unable to stop the Danish powerful attack. 

The Nordic team were helped by some excellent individual performances. In particular, Mathias Gidsel was superb, converting all his 13 attempts and increasing his tally in the tournament to 32 goals. Goalkeeper Emil Nielsen stood out with his 16 saves, and Simon Pytlick and Rasmus Lauge also contributed to the victory, ending the match with five goals each. 

It was actually Pytlick who scored two opening goals of his team, and Gidsel followed up with his impact to open up a commanding 8:3 lead 10 minutes into the match. Argentina, who could not rely on the injured Diego Simonet, had little to offer in the opening phase, as they made too many mistakes. 

As the first half progressed, the South Americans somewhat improved their attack, but they failed to find a remedy against Gidsel, who scored 10 goals from 10 attempts already before half-time. And while their goalkeeping left much to be desired, Nielsen recorded a number of saves, so Denmark's five-goal lead after 30 minutes was hardly surprising. 

After the restart, Gidsel was less prolific, yet a couple of his fast breaks helped the Europeans to increase the gap to 27:20 in the 41st minute. Argentina tried to put some pressure on their rivals, but they did not have enough power and consistency. Halfway through the second half, their player Guillermo Fischer received a direct red card, which could hardly help his team to mount a strong comeback.

In the final 15 minutes, Denmark firmly had the match under their control. Their coach Nikolaj Jacobsen, who actually holds the national team's scoring recor in a single game (15 goals), gave Gidsel a rest, yet it did not stop the Nordic side from further extending their advantage. Denmark scored 19 goals in each of the halves and took a well-deserved win, 37:28, and a quarter-finals berth, while the last-placed Argentina made their chances of reaching the next stage even smaller.

Gidsel became the eighth player to score 13 goals at the Olympics, the third-best performance by a single player, with only two players scoring more - Poland's Jerzy Klempel, 15, against Tunisia at Montreal 1976 and France's Frederic Volle (14), against Brazil at Atlanta 1996.