USMNT Loses to France: Full Group Results Ahead of 2024 Olympic Soccer KO Bracket

France handed the United States a 3-0 defeat to open the men’s soccer tournament in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The score remained tied through 60 minutes before Alexandre Lacazette broke the deadlock. Michael Olise doubled France’s lead in the 69th minute, while Loïc Badé put the finishing touches on the victory in the 85th.

This is the first year since 2008 the U.S. men are competing in the Olympics, and this wasn’t the return to the Summer Games they envisioned.

July 24 Results

Group A

New Zealand 2, Guinea 1

France 3, United States 0

Group B

Morocco 2, Argentina 1

Iraq 2, Ukraine 1

Group C

Spain 2, Uzbekistan 1

Egypt 0, Dominican Republic 0

Group D

Japan 5, Paraguay 0

Mali 1, Israel 1

The full men’s and women’s soccer schedule is available on the Olympics’ official site

Group Standings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

For those unaware, there’s no overlap between the Copa América and Summer Olympics squads for the United States.

In the Summer Games, countries in the men’s tournament are limited to an under-23 roster with a limit of three slots for overage players. This year, the quick turnaround from the Copa América basically ruled out anybody who competed in that event.

As a result, USMNT coach Marko Mitrović is leaning on a relatively inexperienced group in Paris. Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson are the only players with at least 20 caps with the senior team.

Contrast that with the records of France’s first two goalscorers.

Lacazette may not a decorated member of Les Bleus, but he has played the game at the highest level with Arsenal and Lyon. The 33-year-old is simply head and shoulders better than what the United States can throw at him in defense.

The same goes for Olise, who had 10 goals and six assists in 19 Premier League games for Crystal Palace and parlayed that into a move to Bayern Munich. The dynamic winger made it look easy with his left-footed effort from just outside the 18-yard box.

The final score is slightly deceiving as it wasn’t totally one-way traffic in France’s favor before Lacazette’s opener. Moments before that goal, Djordje Mihailovic had a shot go off the crossbar.

Paxten Aaronson and John Tolkin both narrowly missed on what would’ve been equalizers in the minutes after the United States went behind as well.

Olise’s goal was the backbreaker, though. The U.S. as unable to muster much effort after falling behind 2-0.

You don’t want to read too much into one game, especially one that included a tournament favorite in France. Those who have followed the USMNT for years, however, probably saw similar issues that have long lingered.

The United States will look to regroup against New Zealand on Saturday before closing out the group stage against Guinea.

Especially with New Zealand winning earlier in the day, the USMNT is effectively facing a must-win situation. Four points may not be enough to secure a second-place finish in Group A thanks to an already intimidating goal differential.