France vs USMNT live updates (2024)

• Lacazette opened the scoring for France (61') with great a strike.
• USMNT hit the bar (59') and post (64') either side of the first goal.
• Olise doubled France's lead (69') with an impressive curling effort.
• Bade scored a free header (85') late on to add to the hosts' lead.

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The USMNT will rue some missed chances in their opening men’s Olympic soccer match against the hosts and tournament favorites France, as Thierry Henry’s side ran out eventual 3-0 winners in Marseille.

Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette broke the deadlock in the 61st minute after a strong opening hour from a young U.S. team that is led in this tournament by head coach Marko Mitrovic. France’s star power began to show and Michael Olise, who has recently joined Bayern Munich, made it 2-0 not long after. Sevilla defender Loic Bade added a third in the closing minutes.

France’s win puts them in the driving seat in Group A, while New Zealand are also on three points after beating Guinea earlier on Wednesday.

Jeff Rueter and Greg O’Keeffe have analysed the talking points from Marseille, follow the link below to check out their breakdown.

With the group favorite in the rearview, the United States now has 180 minutes remaining to make its case for a spot in the knockout rounds.

In all likelihood, this was an expected result — France’s lineup is as talented as any at this tournament, and a spectacle like the Olympics carries significant host-country support. Still, a three-goal defeat puts Mitrovic’s side in a difficult spot, as goal difference serves as the primary tiebreaker should teams finish level on points in the group.

Undoubtedly, the United States needs to be more confident when going forward. Their first-half performance was one of a team playing to prevent damage rather than be proactive, evidenced by a 38% possession rate and a mere three shots (one on-target) in 45 minutes.

An 18-player squad cap will leave any coach limited for choice. As it stands, most of the players from this defeat will have to shake off the result and focus on getting things back on track for the United States.

Read on at the link below

Olise’s wonderful left-footed strike from outside the area doubled his team’s lead and took the wind out of the sails of a spirited U.S. rearguard. That was his fourth goal in four appearances for this team.

It was a flash of inspiration that his Olympics coach Thierry Henry was capable of delivering, and sets Olise up to make his own mark on the tournament.

Read on at the link below

Mihailovic has long been among the most exciting midfielders in MLS since first emerging from the Chicago Fire academy, where he was at one point coached by Mitrovic. The 25-year-old had a brief spell in Netherlands’ top flight with AZ and has really kicked on since joining Colorado Rapids in January — scoring 10 goals and providing six assists in 21 matches this year.

However, he has never done enough to carve out a regular role in Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT. The 25-year-old has amassed just 11 senior caps, scoring three goals for the senior team.

Still, the midfielder nearly had the moment of his international career against France. In the 59th minute, a corner kick ricocheted into midfield, where Mihailovic was lurking. He uncorked a shot from outside the box, that flew past Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes before coming crashing back off the crossbar.

Read on at the link below

OK, so in the end the favorites won in Marseille. The hosts are able to get a little bit more excited about their dream of Olympic gold on home soil, after France’s opening win in the tournament.

But make no mistake — Henry’s side had to work for it, and were stretched almost to breaking point by an impressive U.S. team before the experience and class of Lacazette and Olise shone through.

Mitrovic’s young team can hold their heads high after a performance that suggested they can still advance to the knockout stages if they maintain this level.

Read on at the link below

With goal difference the first tiebreaker in the group stage as opposed to head-to-head record, the USMNT managing to lose this match 3-0 despite the score being 0-0 at the hour mark could be very damaging to their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

As described in the previous post, the U.S. had a few great chances to score in the second half, hitting both the crossbar and the post. They also had a goal disallowed in second-half stoppage time that would have reduced their margin of defeat.

So, without those consolation goals, they'll need strong results from their final two games in order to advance.

Not so much a moment but a short burst of moments.

• 59': With the score still 0-0, Djordje Mihailovic hits the top of the France crossbar with a great long-distance strike.
• 61': Alexandre Lacazette opens the scoring for France with a great low effort into the far corner of the net from beyond the U.S. box.
• 64': Two huge U.S. chances to equalize, first Paxten Aaronson forcing a great reaction save before John Tolkin hits the bottom of the post with a free header from point-blank range (pictured above).

How different things could have wound up for the USMNT if they had taken any of these three chances to score either side of France's opener.

All 16 teams in the men's tournament played their opening game today.

Group A

• France 3-0 United States
• Guinea 1-2 New Zealand

Group B

• Argentina 1-2 Morocco
• Iraq 2-1 Ukraine

Group C

• Uzbekistan 1-2 Spain
• Egypt 0-0 Dominican Republic

Group D

• Japan 5-0 Paraguay
• Mali 1-1 Israel

Both France and the USMNT started all three of their permitted overage players today, but the senior players for France had a much bigger impact.

Alexandre Lacazette, 33, scored their first goal and assisted their second, while Loic Bade, 24, scored their third. Jean-Philippe Mateta, 27, didn't get on the scoresheet but presented a threat throughout.

Michael Olise, who is only 22 but feels much older given his multiple years in the Premier League before moving to Bayern Munich this summer, also made a big impact, scoring France's second goal and assisting Lacazette's opener.

France 3-0 USMNT

• Shots: 10 - 9
• Shots on goal: 4 - 3
• Saves: 3 - 1
• Possession: 53% - 47%
• Corners: 8 - 2
• Offsides: 1 - 5
• Fouls: 18 - 10
• Yellow cards: 1 - 1

Saturday July 27

• New Zealand vs United States in Marseille
• France vs Guinea in Nice

Tuesday July 30

• New Zealand vs France in Marseille
• United States vs Guinea in Saint-Etienne

Group A

1. France: 3 points, +3 goal difference
2. New Zealand: 3 points, +1 goal difference
3. Guinea: 0 points, -1 goal difference
4. United States: 0 points, -3 goal difference

90+8' France 3-0 USMNT

Lacazette nearly has a great chance to add a fourth goal in the closing seconds but the U.S. defense manages to scramble the ball away to safety.

90+4' France 3-0 USMNT

Yow collects a long ball forward on the side of the France box and gets by his defender. He fires his shot past Restes from a tight angle to pull a goal back for the U.S., but the flag immediately goes up for offside. VAR confirms that Yow was offside when he made his run forward.

90+2' France 3-0 USMNT

France surely deserve this now that their elite players have asserted themselves, but at the same time the USMNT don't deserve a hammering. They performed well for an hour at least, and morale should not suffer too much even though Henry's side have put three past them.

90+1' France 3-0 USMNT

Eight minutes are added on to the end of the match. Feels high. Affords the U.S. some time to reduce the damage this result will do to their goal difference...or time for France to increase the scoreline further.

90' France 3-0 USMNT

France spring a dangerous counterattack that nearly sets Doue up for their fourth goal, but a last-ditch tackle by a U.S. defender prevents them from adding to their lead.

87' France 3-0 USMNT

More subs in reaction to France's third goal. France replace Manu Kone with Soungoutou Magassa, while the U.S. bring on Caleb Wiley in place of Duncan McGuire.