The U.S. women's national team will look to return to the top of the podium for the first time in 12 years when they face Germany, Australia, Zambia or Morocco in the group stage of this summer's Olympic soccer tournament in France.
The United States, which has a record four Olympic championships and four World Cup championships, has not won a gold medal at a Summer Olympics since London 2012.
The U.S. men, returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2008, were grouped with France, New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between teams from the Asian and African Confederations in Wednesday's tournament draw at the Parse Building outside Paris. Ta. of Saint-Denis.
Since the event became an age-group competition in 1992, the U.S. men have advanced from the team competition only once in the past four Olympic appearances.
The 12-team women's team is perhaps the strongest in history, featuring all previous World Cup and Olympic champions except Norway, and seven of the top 10 teams in the FIFA world rankings. The U.S., playing in Group B, will face either Zambia or Morocco in its opening game, followed by two-time World Cup champion and 2016 Olympic champion Germany and last summer's World Cup quarterfinalist Australia.
The field also includes reigning World Cup champions Spain and defending Olympic champions Canada. Two more teams are expected to take part following next month's African Qualification Tournament.
There are only 16 teams participating in the men's U-23 tournament, with only two countries (Argentina and France) in the top 11, and two other countries (New Zealand and Dominican Republic) in the top 11. Ranked outside the top 100. The United States will play host France in Group A.
Two countries, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic, will be competing in the Olympics for the first time, while Israel has not competed in the Olympics since 1976, when it was an amateur event. The other three teams have qualified for the U-23 Asian Cup, which starts next month, and the other team will qualify from the Asia-African Confederation playoffs.
The roster for the men's tournament will be limited to players age 23 and under, with the exception of three older players on each team.
Soccer is one of four sports, along with archery, handball and rugby sevens, to begin before the official Olympic Games start on July 26. The men's competition begins July 24, with the women's competition kicking off the following day. The men's gold medal match is scheduled for August 9th, and the women's final is scheduled for August 10th, the day before the closing ceremony.
The tournament will be held in seven cities across France, from Paris in the north to Marseille on the Mediterranean coast.
Soccer teams at the Paris Olympics:
male
Group A
France, New Zealand, USA, AFC-CAF playoff winners
Group B
Argentina, Morocco, Asian Qualifier, Ukraine
Group C
Asian Qualifiers, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic
Group D
Asian Qualifiers, Paraguay, Mali, Israel
woman
Group A
France, Colombia, Canada, New Zealand
Group B
USA, Zambia/Morocco Winner, Germany, Australia
Group C
Spain, Japan, South Africa vs. Nigeria winner, Brazil
