Argentina won their first men's hockey Olympic gold medal after beating Belgium 4-2 in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games final at the Olympic Hockey Centre on Thursday.

Belgium took the lead after two minutes and 35 seconds when Tanguy Cosyns redirected a sublime pass from Loick Luypaert to beat Argentina goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi.

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Argentina hit back towards the end of the quarter from a penalty corner, when tournament-leading scorer Gonzalo Peillat feigned to shoot but dished the ball for captain Pedro Ibarra to fire home and level the score at 1-1.

Lucas Rey and the Argentina men's hockey team celebrate their win over Belgium in the final to win the gold medal. (Photo: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill)

Argentina took the lead with 41 seconds remaining in the opening quarter when Ignacio Ortiz scored a field goal, before Peillat claimed his 11th goal of the tournament, this time opting to shoot from a penalty corner and powering the ball through Belgium's defence to give his side a 3-1 advantage.

Belgium were starved of scoring opportunities for most of the third, until Gauthier Boccard chipped and dribbled the ball through the attacking circle past three Argentina defenders, before smashing a half-volley into the bottom corner of the goal to send Belgium into the final break 3-2 down.

Unable to score an equaliser despite several chances in the final period, Belgium took goalkeeper Vincent Vana off the pitch to gain an extra outfield player with a little less than three minutes remaining. With 16 seconds until full-time, Agustin Mazzilli intercepted Luypaert's defensive cross, beat two defenders and calmly dribbled the ball into the open goal to give Argentina a 4-2 lead and confirm their maiden men's hockey gold medal.

The result is also Belgium's best finish in men's hockey at an Olympic Games, with third place at the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games their previous best.

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Germany win on penalties

Germany beat Netherlands 4-3 in a shoot-out to win the men's hockey bronze medal, after the world No.2 Netherlands and world No.3-ranked Germany were tied 1-1 at full-time at the Olympic Hockey Centre on Thursday.

Members of the German men's hockey team celebrate after scoring a goal in their shootout win over the Netherlands in the bronze medal match on Thursday. (Photo: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey)

Germany goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi stopped two Dutch players from scoring during the shoot-out, as every German player called upon was able to beat Netherlands' goalkeepers Jaap Stockmann.

Earlier, after an enterprising but scoreless first half from both teams, 18-year-old Jorrit Croon of the Netherlands broke the deadlock in the third quarter with some individual brilliance.

Croon received the ball a couple of metres outside the attacking circle, feinted one way, then spun the other past two German defenders before dribbling along the baseline, stick in one hand, and beating Jacobi through his legs from a tight angle.

Six minutes later, Germany levelled when Martin Haner shot through traffic after a probing run. Both goalkeepers made some impressive saves in the final quarter to send the game into the shoot-out.

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