- Men’s national team to kickoff tournament against hosts
- USWNT handed tough group featuring Australia and Germany
The United States men’s team will face France at the Paris Games after being drawn in the same group as the host nation, while the US women face tough matchups against Australia and Germany.
The USMNT are competing at the Olympics for the first time since Beijing in 2008 and were drawn on Wednesday alongside France, who will be coached by Thierry Henry, in Group A. Also in the group are New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between teams from the Asian Football Confederation and the African Football Confederation.
The US women face Germany and Australia, ranked fifth and 12th in the world respectively. The group will be completed by either Zambia or Morocco, who face each other in the African playoff next month. The USWNT won Olympic gold four times between 1996 and 2012 but went out in the last 16 in 2016 and claimed bronze at the Tokyo Games. They are also coming off a disappointing last-16 exit at the 2023 World Cup. Germany were Olympic champions in 2016.
