PARIS – Soccer at the 2024 Summer Olympics continues with the men’s and women’s quarterfinals on Friday and Saturday, respectively, as Concacaf nations aspire to reach the final four and have the chance to medal in each tournament.

The United States men’s national team will play Morocco on Friday. The Canada women will play Germany, and the U.S. women will play Japan on Saturday.

U.S. men eye first semifinal since Sydney 2000

The United States is the lone Concacaf nation remaining in the men’s tournament and will aspire to be one of the best four teams at Paris 2024, when it meets Morocco in the quarterfinals on Friday (9 a.m. ET) at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The United States will play in quarterfinals of the Olympic Men’s Soccer Tournament for the second time in its history. At Sydney 2000, the team fell in the bronze medal match to finish in fourth place.

Advancing to the semifinals would assure Team USA a chance to medal in men’s soccer. The United States is the seventh Concacaf team to play in the Olympic quarterfinals after finishing second in their group.

Djordje Mihailovic and Kevin Paredes lead the U.S. with two goals each. Paxten Aaronson, Gianluca Busio, and Walker Zimmerman have also scored in these Olympics.

U.S. men’s group stage at Paris 2024:

  • France 3, USA 0
  • USA 4, New Zealand 1
  • USA 3, Guinea 0

The United States will face Morocco for the second time at the Olympics. The previous encounter ended in a scoreless draw at Munich 1972, on Matchday 1 of the group stage.

Morocco will face its third Concacaf team in the Olympics, with all matches ending in draws: 0-0 vs. the United States in Munich 1972, 0-0 vs. Costa Rica in Athens 2004, and 2-2 vs. Honduras in London 2012.

This will be the 27th meeting between Concacaf and CAF teams in Olympic history, with 10 victories for Concacaf, six victories for CAF, and 10 draws. A Concacaf team has not lost in six of their last seven matches against CAF in the Olympics (5W-1D-1L), with the only loss during this period being Nigeria’s 3-2 win over Honduras in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

U.S. women one win from consecutive semifinals

The United States women’s national team continues its path towards a fifth gold medal when they meet Japan in the quarterfinals on Saturday (9 a.m. ET)  at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The U.S. will look to finish at least among the last four for the second consecutive tournament. Team USA will participate in the women’s quarterfinals for an eight occasion and seeks to advance to the semifinals for the seventh time.

The Americans won their three group stage matches for the first time since London 2012 to finish first in Group B. The U.S. and Japan met in the final of the 2012 Olympics, where the U.S. won a record fourth gold medal with a 2-1 victory.

Mallory Swanson leads the U.S. women with three goals, followed by two each from Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith. Korbin Albert and Lynn Williams have also scored.

U.S. women’s group stage at Paris 2024:

  • USA 3, Zambia 0
  • USA 4, Germany 1
  • USA 2, Australia 1

The U.S. and Japan will meet for a fifth time at the Olympics. Along with the gold medal match at London 2012, the USA and Japan met at Athens 2004 and twice at Beijing 2008. The U.S. has won every time it has faced Japan at the Olympics.

In the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the USA and Japan met in the final in 2011 and 2015. Japan prevailed 3-1 on penalty kicks in 2011, after tying 2-2 in regulation, before the U.S. won 5-2 in 2015.

 

Canada continues gold medal defense

The Canada women’s national team will face Germany on Saturday (1 p.m. ET) at the Marseille Stadium in Marseille, France. Team Canada, who won gold at Tokyo 2020, looks to advance to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive occasion.

Canada won its three group stage matches, the first two in comeback fashion. The team will look to win its fourth consecutive match as it seeks its return to the gold medal game.

Vanessa Gilles leads the current squad with two goals. Jessie Fleming, Cloé Lacasse

and Evelyne Viens have also found the back of the net for the Canadians.

Canada women’s group stage at Paris 2024:

  • Canada 2, New Zealand 1
  • Canada 2, France 1
  • Canada 1, Colombia 0

Canada and Germany will meet for the third time in the women’s Olympic tournament. The previous two meetings came at the Rio 2016 games with split results. Canada won 2-1 in the group stage, but Germany would win 2-0 in the semifinals, going to win in the Gold medal match as Canada collected Bronze.