Team USA men’s and women’s soccer looks to move one step closer to medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris

Welcome to the weekend! There’s more Olympic football coming your way this weekend, starting with the US men against Morocco in Paris on Friday before the USWNT follow their compatriots against Japan at the Parc des Princes on Saturday. Jonathan Johnson here – the hunt for gold medals in France isn’t stopping and neither are we, so let’s get started.

📺 Foot correction

Always US/East

Friday August 2
🥇 Olympics: USMNT vs. Morocco, 9:00am ➡️ Peacock Premium/USA Network/Telemundo
🥇 Olympic Games: Japan vs. Spain, 11am ➡️ Peacock Premium/Universo
🥇 Olympics: Egypt vs. Paraguay, 1:00 PM ➡️ Peacock Premium/Telemundo
🥇 Olympic Games: France vs. Argentina, 3pm ➡️ Peacock Premium/Universo

Saturday August 3
🤝 Friendlies: Newcastle United vs. Yokohama F. Marinos, 6am ➡️CBS Sports Golazo Network
🥇 Olympics: USWNT vs. Japan, 9:00am ➡️ Peacock Premium/USA Network
🥇 Olympic Games: Spain WNT vs. Colombia WNT, 11am ➡️ Peacock Premium
🥇 Olympic Games: Canada WNT vs. Germany WNT, 1pm ➡️ Peacock Premium
🥇 Olympic Games: France WNT vs. Brazil WNT, 3pm ➡️ Peacock Premium

Sunday August 4
🇺🇸 Leagues Cup: Atlanta United vs. Santos Laguna, 4pm ➡️ MLS Season Pass

⚽ The forward line

🇺🇸 USWNT and Japan reunited in Paris

The United States women’s national team and Japan will cross paths again Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women’s soccer event in Paris. The matchup is a new installment in what has been one of the richer rivalry stories for the Stars and Stripes over the years at the international level. Between 2011 and 2015, these two played three major finals at the Women’s World Cup, as well as the 2012 Olympics, with the US winning two of those three. Both countries have remained close to the top of women’s football since then, despite some lean times on both sides. Pardeep Cattry looked back some of the transformative games in this rivalry – especially the most recent matchup coming back in 2015.

• Cattry on USWNT’s 5-2 win at the 2015 Women’s World Cup: “The USWNT’s 16-year wait to win their third Women’s World Cup title finally ended memorably in Vancouver in 2015, with the USA leading 4-0 after 16 minutes thanks to Carli’s remarkably quick hat-trick Lloyd, linked to Lauren Holiday’s fourteenth hat-trick. Lloyd, who won the golden ball at that year’s tournament, famously teed up goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori from the halfway line to complete the hat-trick clearing the way for the match with Nagasato’s goal in the 27th minute and Julie Ertz’s own goal in the 52nd minute, but Tobin Heath’s try in the 54th minute put the match out of reach. The USWNT went home days later celebrated with a ticker-tape parade in New York, with the players’ popularity soaring at a key time for the rise of women’s sports in the country.”

However, things are different now on both sides and the USWNT is rebuilding under Emma Hayes, while Japan had a decent performance at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia. The Americans may be favorites to advance given their current pace in France as one of only two teams with a 100% winning record at the Paris Games. What better time to play these games in the French capital for the first time? Sandra Herrera looked on how both teams are developing in terms of their gold medal prospects this summer.

Herrera on USWNT: “The Stars and Stripes have answered many questions and silenced doubters with their dominant group stage. Three wins in the group stage under new head coach Emma Hayes and she has the team playing with confidence. The attack is the most lethal since before the match. ” World Cup 2023, but now the pressure will increase, with knockouts of their own kind of beast and where anything can happen.”

Herrera about Japan: “The program has rebuilt itself over the last cycle and had a respectable run at the 2023 World Cup. They have just the right mix of balance in their squad with youth and top players who are technical on the ball and clinical in transition. They seem to be getting stronger as the tournament progresses with six different goalscorers during the group stages, and that’s a tough team to stop in the knockouts.”

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🔗 Link play in midfield

🇺🇸USMNT on the brink of history

There’s double Olympic football excitement this weekend, with both the USMNT and USWNT in action, with the men’s match first on the agenda on Friday. Both meets will take place in Paris, with the US taking on Morocco and then Japan in the women’s event. Should Marko Mitrovic’s men pass Morocco at the Parc des Princes, a semi-final will bring a possible medal tantalizingly close for the Stars and Stripes. This is historic enough as the last time the USMNT made it this far at an Olympics was in 2000 and it is actually only the second time since the 1960 edition that the US has even advanced past the group stage.

The Atlas Lions will be confident as Soufiane Rahimi is in good form with four goals from three games so far, good for an average of 1.3 goals per 90 minutes at these Games. The Moroccans suffered a defeat when they eliminated Ukraine, so the Americans will be buoyed by that, but defense is likely to remain the US’s weakness, with Rahimi, the leading Olympic scorer, in this encounter. However, there is no such thing as an easy draw, and the route to the final could also include a strong Japan or Spain team in the possible semi-finals next Monday in Marseille. Chuck Booth also shone a light on one of Morocco’s other key figures who will be a familiar face to some given his ties to the US

• Standing on Amir Richardson: “PSG superstar Achraf Hakimi may be the man everyone watches on the wing, and with good reason, having provided four goals and five assists in the league last season, but there is another familiar face on the Morocco’s midfield that has been crucial to their achievements. Amir Richardson, son of basketball player Michael Ray Richardson, was born in France but is also eligible to represent the United States or Morocco After some time with the French U-23 and a strong season at Le Havre, Richardson declared himself already earning three caps in the senior team, he will now continue to play as Morocco look for an Olympic medal.”

USMNT’s semi-final and final route

Always US/East

Monday August 5

• US/Morocco vs. Japan/Spain, 12:00 (Marseille)

Friday August 9

• USMNT/Morocco/Japan/Spain vs. France/Argentina/Egypt/Paraguay, 12:00 (Paris)

🔗 Top stories

🇨🇦 Canadian espionage for the Paris Olympics: Explosive email from Bev Priestman claims ‘all the top teams do it’, while FIFA’s disciplinary committee revealed head coach Priestman’s emails claimed the men’s team also spied.

🔜 Return from Christen Press injury: USWNT’s World Cup-winning veteran will return to Angel City after a recovery period of two years after an ACL injury suffered in 2022.

🔴 Liverpool in new guise under Arne Slot: The elegant style of the Dutch tactician creates excitement, but is it sustainable in the Premier League? after a promising preseason?

😩 Neymar shares ACL recovery pain: The Brazilian superstar has admitted that “there are days when I want to give up”. the 32-year-old continues to recover from his latest injury, which has kept him out since 2023.

💰The Back Line

💵 Best guess

• Olympic Games: USWNT vs. Japan, Saturday, 9am ET
  💰 THE CHOICE: USWNT wins and both teams score (+210) — The USWNT have quickly turned doubters into believers with this convincing Olympic run so far and now they must follow up their three group stage victories under Emma Hayes with another confident performance and a result to match. Most importantly, things look better than they have in a long time, but there will also be greater expectations given how close the US is to medal territory. The Japanese are rebuilding and have had a good performance at the 2023 World Cup, but this could be difficult despite building some momentum. An American victory with both sides scoring sounds good.

📺 What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10am): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network’s flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest football storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast formso you never miss an episode again.

3️⃣ Attacking third (Monday, Thursday): The leading ladies football podcast And social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women’s game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will analyze the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic seasons throughout the year. And don’t miss it Wednesday livestreams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.

⚽ Call it whatever you want (Monday evening): A weekly podcast featuring Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and co. cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can also watch the show live on YouTube every Monday at 11 a.m. ET.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the latest place for fans to keep up to date with all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the best football leagues and all the unmissable goals from the day’s action, which starts on Thursday and airs for seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel solely focused on providing unparalleled coverage of all the top football leagues worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports App, Pluto TV And Biggest+.