U.S. men’s soccer team returns to Olympics with 3-0 loss to France

MARSEILLE, France — The U.S. men’s soccer team returned to the Olympics after a 16-year hiatus Wednesday with the most daunting of tasks: an opening match against not just the host nation but one that churns out world-class players with care and proficiency.

Into the second half, the Americans showed they were up to the enormous challenge at raucous Stade Vélodrome. But in the space of about 10 minutes, all their efforts crumbled during a 3-0 defeat.

Allow U.S. Coach Marko Mitrovic to explain:

“We hit the crossbar. They scored a goal. [The U.S. team] had an amazing two moments. After that, they scored the second. When you play elite teams, those inches that you give them, they’re going to use it.”

The Americans were not expected to win this match; the path to advancing to the quarterfinals was always going to come down to beating New Zealand on Saturday in Marseille and Guinea on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne. But the opportunity to get something out of this opener against a gold medal contender was there — until, in a blinding spell, it wasn’t.

“We can compete with the best,” said defender Walker Zimmerman, a 2022 World Cup starter who was chosen by Mitrovic as one of three over-age players on this under-23 squad. “Scoreline aside, we showed that we can compete and certainly get results against top teams.”

Vying for its first gold medal since 1984, France was more polished in the biggest moments. Goalkeeper Guillaume Restes made the type of clutch saves that his counterpart, Patrick Schulte, did not. Alexandre Lacazette and Michael Olise scored from outside the penalty area, in the 61st and 69th minutes respectively, by taking advantage of slow-responding U.S. players.

“They just used what we gave them,” Mitrovic said.

The U.S. opportunities came when Djordje Mihailovic hit the crossbar from long range and John Tolkin hit the post from close range. Restes made an extraordinary save on Paxten Aaronson’s header.

All of those critical moments occurred between the 59th and 69th minutes. Löic Badé applied the finishing touches by heading in a corner kick in the 85th minute.

“This game was a matter of seconds,” said winger Kevin Paredes, from South Riding, Va. “We had opportunities to score. We defended well. Just small seconds decided the game.”

It all unfolded in the first Olympic appearance by the U.S. men’s team since the 2008 Beijing Games. Olympic men’s soccer for the men is nothing like the World Cup. Aside from fielding just 16 teams — the 2026 World Cup will have a record 48 — the Olympic competition restricts rosters to players age 23 and under, with three allowances for three over-aged players.

FIFA, soccer’s governing body, arranged it this way to prevent the Olympics from stealing even a sliver of limelight from the World Cup, its own quadrennial spectacle. (The women’s tournament has no age restrictions, though that could change as the women’s game grows.)

Furthermore, FIFA does not require clubs to release players to the Olympics, leaving many young stars — and many over-aged candidates, such as France’s Kylian Mbappe — on the sidelines.

Instituted in 1992, the age restriction has led to many unpredictable men’s results. Mexico won gold in 2012, and the United States was a semifinalist in 2000.

For all its World Cup success and bounty of top-shelf players, France has not won Olympic gold since 1984 and failed to qualify between 2000 and 2016. In 2021, it fizzled in the group stage.

Playing at home carries pressure.

“I don’t know why, but the stress of the game” affected the French players, Coach Thierry Henry said. “You would think that the 60,000 [fans] and everyone’s singing, but sometimes it can have the opposite effect.”

The U.S. defensive tactics also stunted Henry’s team.

“What was good for us was that the fans were patient,” he said. “You’re trying to open them up. It can be boring for people that are watching, but it was a chess game. We came out on top but that was a tough game.”

On a hot, breezy day along the Mediterranean coast, two days before the Opening Ceremonies, a festive crowd began gathering outside France’s second-largest stadium (behind Stade de France) hours before kickoff — not with the pregame fervor of a match involving Les Bleus, as the national team is known, but one hungry for an Olympic medal.

Aside from seeking a medal of its own, the U.S. team is aiming to improve the reputation of the program at large after the senior team crashed out of Copa América in the group stage this summer — a shortfall that cost Gregg Berhalter his job as coach. On paper, the young Americans should finish in the top two of the group and advance to the quarterfinals.

Against a technically superior foe Wednesday, they absorbed pressure and defended with conviction through the first half. They ventured into the attack when opportunity presented itself — which is to say, not often. In the 38th minute, though, Aaronson forced Restes to make a kick save on a 16-yard bid, the top threat by either side in the half.

Then came the decisive moments. Mihailovic hit the crossbar. Gianluca Busio was slow trying to close down Lacazette, who pumped a low, 25-yarder into the far corner.

“That was a breakdown from us, letting him come down the middle,” captain Tanner Tessmann said. “We can do better.”

Paredes set up back-to-back opportunities with crosses from the right flank. Aaronson failed to close down Olise, who dropped a 20-yarder beyond Schulte’s reach.

“Margins are very small,” Mitrovic said. “We had a good performance; now we have to get results.”