The 2024 Paris Olympics have officially opened, with a full day of men's football taking place on Saturday.
Soccer actually got underway a few days ago, with a few group matches already completed. The men's Olympic soccer tournament won't feature senior national teams. Instead, most countries will be sending their under-23 men's national teams to the stage, meaning big names like Lionel Messi won't be taking part. But it's a great opportunity to watch young stars in action and gauge each country's talent for the future.
The United States Men's National Team, Argentina and hosts France are the teams to watch on Saturday. See below for live updates, scores and highlights.
Olympic Soccer Today
The full schedule for today's matches can be found here.
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- Men's Soccer Group B Match — Argentina vs. Iraq | 9am | NBC Universo, Peacock
- Men's Soccer Group C Match — Dominican Republic vs. Spain | 9:00 AM | Telemundo, Peacock
- Men's soccer Group B match — Ukraine vs. Morocco | 11:00 AM | NBC Universo, Peacock (digital only)
- Men's Soccer Group C Match — Uzbekistan vs. Egypt | 11am | Peacock (digital only)
- Men's Soccer Group D Match — Israel vs. Paraguay | 1:00 PM | NBC Universo, Peacock
- Men's Soccer Group A Match — New Zealand vs. USA | 1:00 PM | Telemundo, USA Network (Fubo), Peacock
- Men's Soccer Group A Match — France vs. Guinea | 3pm | Telemundo, Peacock
- Men's Soccer Group D Matchup — Japan vs. Mali | 3pm | Peacock (digital only)
How to watch Olympic soccer: TV channels, streaming
- TV Channels: USA Network | NBC Universo | Telemundo
- Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC App | NBC Olympics App | Peacock | Fubo (FREE TRIAL)
The Group A match between USA and New Zealand will be broadcast in English on USA Network and in Spanish on Telemundo. NBC Universo will also broadcast Argentina vs. Iraq, Ukraine vs. Morocco and Israel vs. Paraguay. Telemundo will also broadcast Spain vs. Dominican Republic and France vs. Guinea.
Streaming options for American fans wanting to watch the USA vs. New Zealand match include NBCOlympics.com, the NBC app, and the NBC Olympics app (with cable certification). Other options include Fubo, which broadcasts USA Network and offers a free trial to some users, and Peacock, which will broadcast all events from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
45' +4 Iraq score: Aymen Hussein scores
A header hit the right post of the Argentina goal, the goalkeeper couldn't reach it, and the assist was given by Ahmed Hassan.
13th minute Argentina score: Goal by Thiago Almada
Thiago Almada opened the scoring with a shot from the left wing, and Julián Álvarez chested the ball to the ground to provide the assist for Almada's goal.
Argentina vs Iraq: what to expect
Argentina was the favorite to win the gold medal going into the Olympics, but they are in a difficult position coming into this match due to the video message issue that followed their opening group stage loss to Morocco.
Argentina will be highly motivated as they need a win to get out of the group stage, while Iraq beat Ukraine in their opening match and are joint-top of Group B with Morocco. Both teams have three points each.
Explaining offside and VAR confusion in Argentina vs. Morocco
Raucous soccer fans disrupted Argentina's Olympic match against Morocco on Wednesday, causing a late Argentina goal to be ruled out by video review, turning a 2-2 draw into a 2-1 victory for Morocco.
The chaotic scenes were shocking, especially as players from both teams re-emerged to finish the match in an empty stadium after a nearly two-hour break.
The match officials ruled out Cristian Medina's equaliser after VAR ruled out an offside goal for Argentina. The teams continued playing for three minutes and 15 seconds after the goal was disallowed after VAR's review.
“It's the biggest circus I've ever seen in my life,” Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said.
Why is men's soccer an U-23 sport at the Olympics?
The rule was put in place prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, at a time when the Olympics were undergoing radical change, moving from an entirely amateur-only event to one that allowed professional athletes to take part (perhaps most famously with the arrival of the “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympics).
Following this change, FIFA, the world soccer governing body, did not want to put up various barriers for players to compete in the Olympics and take away from the World Cup as the premier showcase of international soccer. One of the measures was the age limit. Furthermore, because the Olympics is not a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, club teams have the right to refuse players from participating. Many clubs would bar players from competing in both the Olympics and the Euros or Copa America in one summer.
This reality makes Olympic men's soccer very different from women's, with the women's side having no such age restrictions. Read more.
