The road to Olympic gold is set after the draw for the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s soccer tournament was completed on Wednesday. The United States were drawn into group A alongside host France, New Zealand and the winner of the AFC versus CAF playoff. Drawn into the A2 position, the United States will kick off Olympic soccer by facing France in the opener for both teams. The Americans will play their group stage games in Nice and Marseille.
With the Olympics kicking off on July 24th, 16 teams will have their shot at gold including the United States U23s who qualified by virtue of their performance in the Concacaf U-20 tournament. Taking part in the tournament for the first time since 2008, it will be an important time for the squad’s development as they can look to make history. Four places in the Olympic pool are still yet to be decided as Asian qualification and the continental playoff is still ongoing.
While the U20s qualified for the tournament, most of those players may not be involved in the Olympic roster as the age cap is raised to 23 with exceptions made for three over 23 players who can be allowed per squad. Due to those restrictions, while it is rare for a player to take part in a tournament such as the Euros or Copa America and the Olympics, there is a chance that someone like Christian Pulisic or Tyler Adams could be involved for Marko Mitrovic’s squad.
Here are the draw results:
Groups
Group A
- France
- United States
- AFC vs. CAF playoff
- New Zeland
Group B
- Argentina
- Morocco
- AFC 3
- Ukraine
Group C
- AFC 2
- Spain
- Egypt
- Dominican Republic
Group D
- AFC 1
- Paraguay
- Mali
- Israel
Currently in the midst of Olympic prep that will see them face Thierry Henry’s France squad on Monday in a friendly, players like Gianluca Busio, Kevin Paredes, Duncan McGuire, and Aidan Morris will have a chance to show what they can do against the worlds best.
KVSP