OLYMPIC GAMES
Who will the USMNT and USWNT play in the 2024 Olympic Games soccer?
The group stage was decided in Wednesday’s draw which took place in Saint-Denis, Paris, as excitement builds towards the summer tournament.
The US women’s national team has been placed in Group B along with Germany, Australia and an African qualifier (either Morocoo or Zambia). The men’s team is in Group A against hosts France as well as New Zealand and the winner of the AFC-CAF playoff, yet to be determined.
The chance to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of most athletes’ careers but when it comes to football, there are other competitions that stand out more, including the FIFA World Cup. That said, all those teams that have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Games will be giving it their all to claim the coveted prize as the world watches on. And that includes both the women’s and men’s national teams of the United States who were both in Wednesday’s draw.
Olympics 2024 football: USWNT group confirmed
The women’s competition features 12 nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the USWNT, and two African teams yet to be decided (from Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia) named CAF1 or CAF2. These teams are split into three groups of four, with the top two and best two thirds going through. The competition starts on 25 July with the ‘final’ being played on 10 August.
The US women have been placed in Group B along with: CAF2, Germany and Australia.
Note that this is the first time that Olympic football sees the women’s gold-medal match take place after the men’s.
Olympics 2024 football: USMNT group confirmed
The 2024 men’s football tournament runs from 24 July to 9 August, with 16 teams involved. These are Argentina, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Israel, Mali, Morocco, New Zealand, Paraguay, Spain, Ukraine and the USA. Three Asian teams and another from the AFC-CAF playoff will complete the line-up. There are four groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the knockout stage.
The US men have been placed in Group A along with: France, New Zealand and AFC-CAF playoff. The USMNT will play the opening game of the tournament against hosts France.
Olympics 2024 football: all the groups
Women’s tournament:
Group A: France, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand
Group B: USWNT, Germany, Australia, African qualifier 2
Group C: Spain, Japan, Brazil, African qualifier 1
Men’s tournament:
Group A: France, New Zealand, USMNT, AFC-CAF playoff winner
Group B: Argentina, Morocco, AFC qualifier 3, Ukraine
Group C: AFC qualifier 2, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic
Group D: AFC qualifier 1, Paraguay, Mali, Israel
How Olympics football works
As explained by the official Olympics organisation, the structure of the men’s and women’s soccer competition is more of less the same but with some small differences.
Women
The women’s competition mirrors that of FIFA tournaments, adhering to the traditional setup of two teams, each comprising 11 players, engaging in a 90-minute match split into two 45-minute halves, with additional stoppage time, all played out on a grass pitch. There is no age limit on the players.
Men
The game rules governing the men’s competition are the same, albeit with a nuanced distinction in team composition. Every player must have been born on or after 1 January 2001, ensuring an age limit of 23 by the time of the Paris 2024 Games.
Nevertheless, teams are allowed to include up to three footballers who surpass this age threshold, listed among the squad of 18 players per team. This is why we could see some big stars including Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappé (France) among others.