The men’s football competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will begin with a match between host France and the United States. The two teams were drawn together on Wednesday.
Two days before to the Paris opening ceremony, on July 24, the match will take place in Marseille. Group A is completed by New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between Guinea and the team that finished fourth in the Asian qualifying campaign.
Argentina, the defending champions from 2004 and 2008, was placed in Group B alongside Morocco, Ukraine, and an Asian qualifier that has not yet been decided.
Brazil, the two-time defending champion, was unable to qualify and will not compete in the men’s event.
“My dad used to wake me up at night to see Carl Lewis compete in the Olympics… At the draw ceremony, France’s 1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry, who is currently coaching the Under-23 team that will compete in the tournament, remarked, “I cried when we did not qualify, even if I had won the World Cup before.”
It has been forty years since we won. Though it’s not simple, we’ll give it our best go.
In Los Angeles in 1984, France emerged victorious.
Monday’s friendly match between Henry’s team and the United States is set.
Henry continued, “The first goal is to go through the group phase and see what happens on the other side. We didn’t have a preference (for the draw).
Head coach of the United States Marko Mitrovic told reporters that while he expects a fiery atmosphere, he views France as just another opponent in the group.
“Playing against the home team is a little different since it’s our first game against them, and it’s in Marseille, so I imagine there will be 70,000 fans in the sold-out stadium.
But things are as they are. We will do our best since we view them as our opponents, along with the other teams in our group.
World champion Spain, who will compete in her debut Olympics, was drawn against Brazil, Japan, and an unnamed African qualifier in the women’s division.
In Group A, holders Canada will host France, Colombia, and New Zealand.
The four-time champion United States is paired with Germany, Australia, and a qualifier from Africa in Group B.
“The Olympics will be extremely difficult,” U.S. interim head coach Twila Kilgore said over the phone to reporters.
“I think it speaks volumes when you consider that some of the world’s best teams are not even allowed to compete in the Olympics.”
“Every group is challenging, and it would be incorrect to minimize any individual.”
The football competitions will come to an end on August 10 at Paris’s Parc des Princes with the women’s final.
