France, Spain and Japan have commanding leads in their respective groups, while U.S. Soccer, Argentina and Egypt all moved back up the rankings with victories on Saturday.
France tops Group A, Spain tops Group C and Japan tops Group D, all with six points. Men’s soccer resumes on Tuesday and a win or draw will ensure each country advances to the knockout stages.
U.S. Soccer is second in Group A behind France, two goals behind New Zealand, and next faces Guinea with a chance to advance.
Group B will be an interesting one, with all four teams – Argentina, Ukraine, Morocco and Iraq – on three points after two matches.
See men’s soccer scores and highlights from Saturday’s matches from the Paris Olympics.
2024 Olympic medals: Who will come out on top in the medal count? Let’s track the medals in each sport to find out.
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Today’s Olympic men’s soccer matches: Scores
Group B — Argentina 3, Iraq 1Group C — Spain 3, Dominican Republic 1Group B — Ukraine 2, Morocco 1Group C — Egypt 1, Uzbekistan 0Group D — Paraguay 4, Israel 2Group A — USA 4, New Zealand 1Group A — France 1, Guinea 0Group D — Japan 1, Mali 0
Christian Pulisic: Will Pulisic play in the Olympics? Here’s the answer
Final: USA Soccer 4, New Zealand 1
Djordje Mihajlovic, Walker Zimmerman and Gianluca Busio scored in the first half and Paxton Aaronson added another in the second half to give U.S. Soccer a 4-1 victory over New Zealand.
The four goals scored was an Olympic record for U.S. Soccer and the win was their first Olympic victory since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The U.S. soccer team fought back in style after suffering a 3-0 loss to hosts France in their opening match earlier this week.
France tops Group A with six points, followed by United States Soccer, New Zealand (three points) and Guinea (one point).
Final: Argentina gets back on track with 3-1 win over Iraq
Their first match was memorable for the worst, but Argentina got back on track at the Paris Olympics, beating Iraq 3-1 on Saturday, with goals from Thiago Almada, Luciano Gondu and Ezequiel Fernandez.
It was a stark departure from the dramatic 2-1 defeat to Morocco earlier this week, in which a goal and a draw were disallowed due to fan interference and two hours of VAR.
Final: Spain beats Dominican Republic 3-1
Goals from Fermín López, Alex Baena and Miguel Gutierrez led Spain to a comfortable 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic, moving them to the top of Group C, six points ahead of Egypt, Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic.
Final: Kilian Sirdilia’s goal gives France a 1-0 win over Guinea
Kilian Sirdilia’s stunning header in the 75th minute was enough to lead France to a 1-0 victory over Guinea. France sits atop Group A with six points, U.S. Soccer is in second place with three points, two behind New Zealand. Guinea is last with one point.
Final: Japan beat Mali 1-0 with goal from Masato Yamamoto
A sliding goal by Yamamoto Masato in the 82nd minute gave Japan a 1-0 victory over Mali, after Japan also withstood a missed penalty goal by Mali in the dying seconds of the game.
Japan tops Group D with six points, Paraguay is second with three points, followed by Mali and Israel with one point each.
France vs. Guinea and Japan vs. Mali both fail to score in the second half
The game remained scoreless in the second half.
Final: Paraguay 4, Israel 2
Fabian Balbuena’s stoppage-time header and Fabian Fernandez’s goal three minutes later gave Paraguay a 4-2 victory over Israel on Saturday.
Japan tops Group D with four points, followed by Paraguay (three points), Mali (two points) and Israel (one point).
Jesse Randall’s goal: New Zealand scores, loses 4-1 to USA. Soccer
New Zealand’s Jesse Randall scored in the 78th minute to end U.S. Soccer’s clean sheet streak.
Paxten Aaronson’s goal leads U.S. Soccer to 4-0 win over New Zealand
U.S. Soccer set the record for goals scored in an Olympic game. Pakstin Aaronsson’s left-footed goal in the 58th minute gave U.S. Soccer a 4-0 lead over New Zealand.
The previous record was three goals in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Gianluca Busio’s goal gives U.S. Soccer a 3-0 lead over New Zealand
USA Soccer started well, with Gianluca Busio scoring in the 30th minute to give New Zealand a 3–0 lead.
The goal, scored just 30 minutes into the game, tied the all-time U.S. Soccer Olympic scoring record after the team defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in the group stage of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Walker Zimmerman’s goal gives U.S. Soccer a 2-0 lead over New Zealand
Walker Zimmerman was in the right place at the right time and scored in the 12th minute to help U.S. Soccer take a 2-0 lead over New Zealand.
Djordje Mihajlovic goal: USA Soccer takes early 1-0 lead over New Zealand
Djordje Mihajlovic scored a penalty kick in the fourth minute to give the U.S. Soccer team an early 1-0 lead over New Zealand, the first Olympic goal by a U.S. man in nearly 16 years since the Beijing Olympics.
Final: Ukraine 2, Morocco 1
Igor Krasnopil’s stoppage-time goal gave Ukraine a 2-1 win over Morocco.
Current standings in Group B: Argentina (4 points), Morocco, Ukraine, Iraq (3 points each).
Final: Egypt 1, Uzbekistan 0
Ahmed Koca scored in the 11th minute as Egypt narrowly escaped with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan.
Current standings in Group C: Spain (6 points), Egypt (4 points), Dominican Republic (2 points), Uzbekistan (2 points).
Will Christian Pulisic play in the Olympics?
No, Christian Pulisic has not played for the U.S. Soccer Federation since his Copa America appearance with the U.S. Men’s National Team.
More on Pulisic and the Olympics.
Will Messi, Neymar and Mbappe play in the Olympics?
No. Messi doesn’t play for Argentina, Neymar doesn’t play for Brazil, and Kylian Mbappe doesn’t play for France.
The Olympic football tournament is played by players under the age of 23, even though each team is allowed to have up to three players over that age.
Messi injured his ankle after the Copa America but hasn’t played, Neymar is still recovering from knee surgery and Mbappe is healthy but is with Real Madrid.
Ezequiel Fernández goals: Argentina 3, Iraq 1
Argentina would comfortably win the second leg after Ezequiel Fernandez scored in the 85th minute to take a 3-1 lead over Iraq.
Luciano Gondu’s goals: Argentina 2, Iraq 1
Argentina took a 2-1 lead over Iraq in the 62nd minute of the second half with a header from Luciano Gondu.
Spain 3, Dominican Republic 1
Fermín López put Spain ahead in the 24th minute, but the Dominican Republic responded with a goal from Ángel Emmanuel in the 38th minute. Then tragedy struck, as the Dominican Republic received a red card. Edison Azcona was forced to leave the match for kicking an opponent. They would play the rest of the match with one man less. Spain took the lead again with a goal from Alejandro Baena in the 55th minute. Miguel Gutierrez scored for Spain in the 70th minute.
Aymen Husseingol: Argentina 1, Iraq 1
Aymen Hussein headed a shot at the right post for Argentina but the goalkeeper couldn’t reach it, and Ahmed Hassan provided the assist in added time before the break.
Thiago Almada’s goals: Argentina 1, Iraq 0
Thiago Almada opened the scoring with a shot from the left wing in the 13th minute, after which Julián Álvarez chested the ball down to the ground and assisted Almada’s goal.
Argentina vs Iraq: what to expect
Argentina was the favorite to win the gold medal going into the Olympics, but they are in a difficult position coming into this match due to the video message issue that followed their opening group stage loss to Morocco.
Argentina will be highly motivated as they need a win to get out of the group stage, while Iraq beat Ukraine in their opening match and are joint-top of Group B with Morocco. Both teams have three points each.
Explaining offside and VAR confusion in Argentina vs. Morocco
Raucous soccer fans disrupted Argentina’s Olympic match against Morocco on Wednesday, causing a late Argentina goal to be ruled out by video review, turning a 2-2 draw into a 2-1 victory for Morocco.
The chaotic scenes were shocking, especially as players from both teams re-emerged to finish the match in an empty stadium after a nearly two-hour break.
The match officials ruled out Cristian Medina’s equaliser after VAR ruled out an offside goal for Argentina. The teams continued playing for three minutes and 15 seconds after the goal was disallowed after VAR’s review.
“It’s the biggest circus I’ve ever seen in my life,” Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said.
Why is men’s soccer an U-23 sport at the Olympics?
The rule was enacted ahead of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, at a time when the Olympics were undergoing radical change, moving from an entirely amateur-only event to one that allowed professional athletes to take part (perhaps most famously with the arrival of the “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympics).
Following this change, FIFA, the world soccer governing body, did not want to put up various barriers for players to compete in the Olympics and take away from the World Cup as the premier showcase of international soccer. One of the measures was the age limit. Furthermore, because the Olympics is not a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, club teams have the right to refuse players from participating. Many clubs would bar players from competing in both the Olympics and the Euros or Copa America in one summer.
This reality makes Olympic men’s soccer very different from women’s, with the women’s side having no such age restrictions. Read more.
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