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 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). 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 a group along with: updated live

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 one from the AFC-CAF federations 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 a group along with: updated live

Olympics 2024 football: all the groups

updated live

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.