The stage is set
It’s about that “go hard or go home” time in the men’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
All eight remaining teams left, including the U.S. men’s soccer team, will lay it all out on the line on Aug. 2.
European powerhouses France and Spain, South American kings Argentina, rising African nation Morocco and the dark horses of the U.S., Japan, Paraguay and Egypt will hope its their team who can bring smiling faces to millions of their supporters by standing on the No. 1 spot on the podium and winning gold.
SEE MORE: Men’s soccer recap, July 30: Egypt, Morocco, Japan, France win groups
Knockout matchups revealed
The tournament did not stall in serving soccer fans quarterfinal matches that will bring absolute entertainment on the pitch.
Gold medal favorites France and Argentina will clash in the first knockout round, and only one will continue its journey of winning a medal, while an underwhelming Spain meets and surprising Japan team that is electric with its attack and solid in defending. The U.S. will play against a Moroccan team led by Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi in a match that is certainly unpredictable on who will come out on top. And to round out the matches, surprising Group C champions Egypt will come across a Paraguayan team that has rebounded in the best possible way since suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat in its first match of the tournament.
The quarterfinal matches have already been placed on two sides of the bracket with France, Argentina, Egypt and Paraguay on one side, and Morocco, the U.S., Japan and Spain on the other. On paper, the side of the bracket where the U.S. is seems the most challenging to predict which team will make the final, while the other side favors either France or Argentina to make it to the gold medal match.
All matches will be played on Friday, Aug 2, and the times for when each game occurs can be seen below.
All times are in ET
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Morocco vs. USA: 9 a.m.
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Japan vs. Spain: 11 a.m.
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Egypt vs. Paraguay: 1 p.m.
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France vs. Argentina 3 p.m.
Players to watch
For the U.S., veteran defender Walker Zimmerman and midfielders Djordje Mihailovic and Kevin Paredes have stepped up to lead its side to two crucial victories and get them where the team is at now. Morocco’s Hakimi and Soufiane Rahimi, the tournament’s top goalscorer, continue to pave the way for the team’s impressive attack, while Barcelona youngsters Fermin Lopez and Pau Cubarsi have been the skeleton of a Spanish team willing to dominate possession and create chances in the final third.
France is a side filled with talent, but its most notable players in the tournament have been Michael Olise, Alexandre Lacazette and Loic Bade. All have made it easier for this French team to keep on stacking up wins while playing entertaining soccer. Argentina’s Julian Alvarez and Thiago Almada are the team’s source of potent offense, but both players will hope they can both click at the same time to have a chance of defeating the host nation. Julio Enciso and Diego Gomez of Paraguay will look to keep up the team’s momentum against an Egyptian team led by former Arsenal player Mohamed Elneny that is not afraid of taking the game to its opponent.
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