In a head-to-head battle for a quarter-finals berth, Brazil faced a must-win situation, and they ended their three-match losing run, beating Angola by as many as 11 goals, 30:19, eliminating the African champions and progressing to the quarter-finals. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
Brazil vs Angola 30:19 (14:6)

Angola had the upper hand prior to that match, as they had one point more than Brazil, so even a draw would have been enough for them to go through. But after Natalia Santos opened the score for the Africans, it was Brazil which took control of the match.

Gabriela Moreschi stood like a wall between the posts, restricting Angola to just two goals in the opening 20 minutes. And while Angola somewhat improved their attacking efficiency late in the first half, the Brazilian goalkeeper still boasted an impressive 67% saving rate at the break, as she stopped as many as 12 shots.

Moreschi's heroics allowed her teammate to deliver fast counterattacks, and the maximum gap between the rivals in the first half reached 10 goals, 13:3, before Angola cut the deficit. Samara Vieira stood out in the South American's attack, contributing to their 14:6 half-time lead with her five goals. It was the lowest number of goals scored in the women's competition at the Olympics since 2016, when the Netherlands also scored six goals against France.

Brazil had beaten Angola in their both mutual encounters at the Olympics, at London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, and now the South American champions were the better team again. Even if Angola harboured hopes to fight back in the second half, Brazil did not relax their approach, restoring a 10-goal dominance in the 38th minute following a 4:0 run.

There were no questions left about the outcome long before the final buzzer, so the South Americans could calmly finish the job in this game, which proved much more one-sided than expected. Moreschi had less impact in the second half, but she ended the game with 17 saves and a 47% save rate, while Gabriela Bitolo became Brazil's top scorer with seven goals, one more than her teammate Vieira scored. 

Brazil claimed their second win in the tournament after they had defeated Spain in the opening match (29:18). With four points, the team coached by Cristiano Rocha ranked fourth in Group B and made it to the top eight teams at the Olympics for the fifth time in history. Now they will meet Group A winners in the quarter-final, which will be a Nordic side - Norway, Sweden or Denmark. 

As for Angola, the African champions have done a decent job at Paris 2024, as they beat Spain and drew against Hungary, but three points in five games were not enough for Carlos Viver's team to stay in the medal race, heading home, as they finished fifth in their group.