The 2024 Olympic women's soccer tournament will consist of 12 teams divided into three groups of four. The top two teams from each group, as well as the top two third-place finishers, will advance to the knockout stage. The United States has advanced from its group in each of its last seven Olympic appearances, winning a medal in six of those seven times.
The second group stage match will see Australia take on Zambia in Nice at 1pm ET/7pm local, followed by the USA taking on Germany in Marseille. The final Group B match on 31 July will see Germany take on Zambia in Saint-Etienne, kicking off at the same time as the USA take on Australia in Marseille (1pm ET/7pm local).
In Group A, hosts France and Canada started their Olympic campaigns with wins, while in Group C Spain and Brazil won their opening matches.
Series situation: USA vs Germany
The July 28 meeting in Marseille will mark the 36th meeting between the United States and Germany overall, but the first time they have met in a World Cup or Olympic group stage and only the second time the teams have met at the Olympic Games. The last time the two teams met was in the semifinals of the 2004 Athens Games, when the U.S. won 2-1 in extra time with 19-year-old Heather O'Reilly scoring the winning goal in the 99th minute.
The United States leads Germany with 23 wins, 5 losses, and 7 draws, and has 4 wins, 1 loss, and 0 draws in World Cup and Olympic meetings. Germany's only world championship win over the United States was in the 2003 Women's World Cup semi-finals, a 3–0 victory in Portland, Oregon, which gave Germany its first Women's World Cup title. The United States and Germany last met in a world championship match in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals, where the United States won 2–0 to win its third World Cup title. In the past five meetings between the United States and Germany, the team that won the match has won the entire tournament.
The United States and Germany most recently met in two friendlies at the end of 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Harrison, New Jersey, with split wins. In the first match on November 10, 2022, the United States tied the game with a goal from Megan Rapinoe in the 85th minute, before Germany won 2-1 thanks to an American own goal and a winning goal in transition in the 89th minute. The teams then traveled to Red Bull Arena, where the United States closed out the 2022 season with a 2-1 comeback win on November 13. After trailing 1-0 at halftime after midfielder Jules Brand gave Germany the lead in the 18th minute, the United States fought back by scoring two goals in the opening three minutes of the second half. Sophia Smith tied the game for the U.S. with a powerful shot from 12 yards out in the 54th minute, and Mallory Swanson, playing her final game for the U.S. women's national team under her maiden name, Pugh, got in behind the German defense and scored the winner with a low shot in the 56th minute.
Americans in Marseille
The win over Zambia in Marseille improves the U.S. Women's National Team's career record in France to 14 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws. Seven of the wins came during the U.S. Women's National Team's appearance at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, while the two losses came in friendlies against France in 2015 and 2019.
This will be the first U.S. match to be played in Marseille, France's oldest and second-largest city. Stade de Marseille, also known as Stade Vélodrome, is the second-largest stadium in France with an Olympic capacity of 66,300. Home to Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille, the stadium first opened in 1937 and has hosted the 1938 and 1998 FIFA Men's World Cups, the 1984 and 2016 UEFA European Championships, and the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.
The Emma era is off to a strong start
Prior to officially taking over as head coach of the US Women's National Team in late May, the longtime head coach at Chelsea FC was undefeated in her first five games with the US Women's National Team (4-0-1-T), all of which came by shutout. This marks the second-longest streak at the start of a tenure by a full-time US Women's National Team head coach, behind only the nine consecutive shutout wins she recorded at the start of the Greg Ryan era.
Hayes is the eighth head coach to lead the U.S. Women's National Team to a major tournament, the fourth head coach to win their first game at a world championship and the first to win their first game at a major tournament by three points or more. Other head coaches to win their first major tournament game with the U.S. Women's National Team are Jill Ellis (2015 World Cup), April Heinrichs (2000 Olympics) and Anson Drancet (1991 World Cup).
Three of the seven head coaches in U.S. Women's National Team history have won their first major tournament: Drance led the U.S. to the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, Pia Sundhage led the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and Ellis led the U.S. to its third World Cup title in 2015.
2024 Media Guide
The U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer 2024 Media Guide and the U.S. Women's National Team 2024 Media Guide are now available for download. The media guides feature all of the history and statistics of the U.S. Women's National Team, as well as complete bios of the technical staff and current top players, information about the U.S. Youth Women's National Team, and general key information about U.S. Soccer.
U.S. Team and Olympic Roster Notes
- Four of the players on this roster have won more than 100 caps, with Lindsey Horan leading the way with 151. Crystal Dunn has 150 international appearances, followed by Alyssa Naher (107 caps) and Rose Lavelle (102 caps).
- Jenna Nyswonger is the least capped member of this squad, with 11 international appearances.
- Of the 22 players on the roster, 14 were born after the 1996 Olympics, the first time women's soccer was featured in the Olympics.
- Forward Mallory Swanson is the roster's leading scorer with 36 international goals, followed by Horan with 35, Dunn with 25 and Lavelle with 24.
- Swanson's two goals at Paris 2024 made her the tournament's joint-leading scorer alongside France's Marie-Antoinette Katoto, while Horan's two assists meant she was also the tournament's joint-leading scorer alongside Germany's Julia Gwinn.
- Horan leads the U.S. with 1,002 total minutes played in 2024, becoming the first player to surpass 1,000 minutes this year, followed by Alyssa Naher (930), Sam Coffey (923) and Tianna Davidson (900).
- Twelve players have scored points so far on the 2024 USA Women's National Team: Jaedyn Shaw and Sophia Smith with five points each, Horan and Swanson with four points each, Alex Morgan, Olivia Moultrie, Tianna Davidson and Jenna Nyswonger with two points each, and Rodman, Dunn, Lynn Williams and Lily Johannes with one point each.
- Rodman, Smith, Horan and Rose Lavelle lead the U.S. with three assists each this year, followed by Swanson and Midge Purse with two each. Nine other players have one assist this year.
- Overall, there are 19 players directly involved in goals for the U.S. in 2024, led by Smith with eight goal involvements (five goals, three assists) and Horan with seven goal involvements (four goals, three assists).
Current FIFA World Rankings: Four
UEFA Ranking: Four
Olympic appearances: 6th (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2024)
Best Olympic result: 2016 (Gold Medal)
Results against the USA: (5W-23L-7D)
coach: Horst Hrubesch (Germany)
German Women's Olympic Football Team members by position (club)
Goalkeeper (2) 1- Mar Froms (VfL Wolfsburg, Germany), 12- Ann-Katrin Berger (New Jersey/New York Gotham FC, USA)
Defender (6): 2 – Sarai Linder (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), 3 – Katrin Hendrich (VfL Wolfsburg), 4 – Bibian Schulze-Solano (Athletic Club Femenino, ESP), 5 – Marina Hegering (VfL Wolfsburg), 13 – Sara Doorsun (Eintracht Frankfurt), 15 – Julia Gwin (FC Bayern Munich)
Midfielder (7) 6- Janina Minge (SC Freiburg), 8- Sidonie Roman (FC Bayern Munich), 9- Scheke Nusken (Chelsea FCW, ENG), 14- Elisa Sens (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 16- Jules Brandt (VfL Wolfsburg), 17- Clara Bühl (FC Bayern Munich), 18- Vivienne Endemann (VfL Wolfsburg)
Forwards (3) 7- Lee Schuller (FC Bayern Munich), 10- Laura Freigang (Eintracht Frankfurt), 11- Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg)
Alternative (4): 19-Felicitas Rauch (North Carolina Courage, USA), 20-Pia-Sophie Walter (Eintracht Frankfurt), 21-Nicole Annoyomi (Eintracht Frankfurt), 22-Stina Johannes (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Germany Team Notes
- Germany, ranked No. 4 in the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings, is the highest-ranked opponent the U.S. has faced since facing then-third-ranked Sweden in the round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
- The match between No. 4 Germany and No. 5 USA will be the first time the U.S. Women's National Team will face a lower-ranked team since the 2015 Women's World Cup semifinal, when the world's second-ranked USA defeated world No. 1 Germany 2-0 with goals from Carli Lloyd and Kelli O'Hara in Montreal to reach the World Cup final.
- Of the 16 World Championships in the history of women's soccer, the United States and Germany have won 11 of them. The United States has won the Women's World Cup four times and four Olympic gold medals, while Germany has won the Women's World Cup two times and one Olympic gold medal.
- Germany was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and missed out on a spot in the 2020 Olympics, but defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the UEFA Women's Nations League third-place playoff on February 28 to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
- Germany, which has competed in every women's Olympic soccer tournament except for 2012 and 2020, is one of only three countries to win gold medals at both the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Olympic Games, joining that elite group with the United States and Norway.
- After winning bronze medals in 2000, 2004 and 2008, Germany won gold at Rio 2016, beating Sweden 2-1 in the gold medal game. Veteran forward Alexandra Popp is the only one of the 2016 gold medallists returning to the national team for Paris 2024.
- Germany, who won back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cups in 2003 and 2007, have not won a major tournament since winning the gold medal in Rio. They lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup, finished as runners-up to England at the 2022 UEFA Women's Championship and had a disappointing finish at the 2023 Women's World Cup, losing to Colombia and drawing with South Korea in Group H, failing to advance beyond the group stage for the first time in the tournament's history.
- Like the United States, Germany was forced to make some changes before the Olympic Games even began. Talented midfielder Lena Oberdorf, named Euro 2022's Young Player of the Tournament, injured her anterior cruciate ligament and abductor muscles in a UEFA 2025 qualifier against Austria on July 16, and midfielder Janina Minge was substituted for her in the 18-man squad. Eintracht Frankfurt's Pier-Sophie Walter was then added to Germany's replacement squad.
- All but four of the 22 players representing Germany at this year's Olympics play for German Women's Bundesliga clubs: four for league winners Bayern Munich – Lea Schuler, Clara Bühl, Julia Gwynne and Sydney Lohmann – six for runners-up VfL Wolfsburg and five for Eintracht Frankfurt.
- Two of the four players playing outside of Germany are currently playing in the NWSL: goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger joined NJ/NY Gotham FC from Chelsea this spring and has been impressive this season, while reserve Felicitas Rauch has played 16 games for North Carolina Courage.
- Germany made an impressive run to the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 final before losing 2-1 in extra time to hosts England in front of a record crowd at Wembley Stadium. In the final, star forward Alexandra Popp was injured warming up and was unable to score her tournament-high six goals, but midfielder Lina Magl scored Germany's only goal.
