Lower than a yr after Australia’s Ladies’s World Cup was a breakthrough success world wide, lots of the match’s finest gamers will return; this time, the centerpiece of world soccer would be the 2024 Paris Olympics, the place 12 groups will compete for gold.
World champions Spain are among the many favorites to style glory, though they may make their Olympic debut within the French capital, whereas perennial heavyweights the US shall be on the lookout for redemption after struggling their worst end within the World Cup.
Staff USA’s neighbors, Staff Canada, pulled off the unthinkable at Tokyo 2020, beating closely favored Sweden within the gold medal recreation to change into the reigning Olympic champions. It’s disappointing that the Swedish crew won’t compete within the 2024 Paris Olympics after failing to qualify.
Nice Britain will even be added to the absentee checklist, however she didn’t safe an Olympic berth via the inaugural Ladies’s Nationwide League.
In contrast with the 16-team males’s soccer match that’s restricted to gamers below the age of 23, the 12-team ladies’s Olympic soccer match has senior skilled gamers and a whole lineup. It’s a star-studded, highest-quality world prime soccer match. Present allowances for 3 overage skilled gamers.
Fan curiosity in ladies’s Olympic soccer matches is predicted to be greater than ever, due to the success of the 2023 World Cup, which has attracted file world tv viewing figures.
USA: A crew in transition
With a brand new coach on the helm and a roster stuffed with rising stars, a refreshed U.S. crew will enter the Olympics.
England’s Emma Hayes has been employed to show across the crew’s fortunes, with the veteran coach doubtlessly bringing a breath of recent air to the USWNT.
Hayes, who led Chelsea to seven Ladies’s Tremendous League titles, took over as supervisor forward of the Olympics, though her appointment was introduced late final yr after Vlatko Andonovski resigned following a disastrous World Cup exit.
After successful consecutive championships in 2015 and 2019, the US crew was anticipated to finish the “three consecutive championships” within the 2023 World Cup. Nonetheless, the US crew was eradicated within the prime 16 and misplaced to Sweden in a penalty shootout.
Hayes is below strain as she manages a crew that has slipped to its lowest ever rating (fifth) because it makes an attempt to return to the highest of the world rankings. The four-time world champion can also be stuffed with satisfaction.
“Everyone knows the material of America’s DNA, and that will not change below my management,” Hayes stated at his first information convention as head coach in June.
U.S. captain Lindsay Horan, who received bronze on the Tokyo Olympics, stated the crew has moved on from World Cup disappointment and can compete for gold in Paris.
“After the World Cup, we actually regrouped,” Horan advised reporters this month.
“You take a look at the younger gamers coming in, the leaders of this crew, , simply [a] The massive grid that we’ve got. I feel what you are going to see and what we’ll see is unbelievable.
The U.S. roster of 18 Olympians contains thrilling rookies like ahead Sophia Smith and guard Naomi Girma, whereas veterans Horan, Alyssa Ne Alyssa Naeher and Crystal Dunn add depth to the crew.
Surprisingly, the final member of the U.S. ladies’s soccer dynasty, Alex Morgan, was omitted by Hayes. This would be the first time for the reason that 2008 Olympics that the high-profile ahead won’t symbolize the nationwide crew in a serious competitors.
America has received medals in any respect however one of many seven Olympics which have featured ladies’s soccer, together with 4 gold medals, the final of which got here at London 2012.
Goalkeeper Nach stated the Paris Olympics will give the crew an opportunity to start out a brand new chapter as they give the impression of being to regain their dominance on the worldwide stage.
“We have been speaking all yr about trying to the longer term, turning over a brand new leaf, having a brand new identification and shifting ahead,” Nach advised reporters.
“That is how it began,” she stated.
“With Emma coming in and a complete new workers and roster confirmed, I feel now’s the chance to formally transfer in that course. It is the primary match like this. You possibly can really feel the vitality.
America is in Group B with 2016 Olympic champion Germany, Asian heavyweights Australia and Zambia, which incorporates Racheal Kundananji, the world’s costliest feminine athlete.
Can Spain win the double crown?
Spain received the 2023 FIFA World Championship in Australia and New Zealand regardless of going through off-field issues together with an unsightly participant insurrection. Their title was later marred by a scandal over former Spanish Soccer Federation president Luis Rubiales.
Rubiales sparked outrage world wide when he kissed star participant Jeanne Hermoso with out consent throughout an awards ceremony after the World Cup closing. The disgraced former official is because of stand trial in February 2025, whereas shut ally Jorge Verda was sacked as head coach by the Spanish Soccer Federation.
Not like the World Cup, Spain will deal with the Olympics and have the chance to change into the primary crew to win the Olympic gold medal and World Cup double crown.
The Olympics shall be a brand new expertise for the top-ranked Spaniards, however after successful the World Cup and Nations League final yr, they know win at main occasions.
Their squad is wealthy with world-class expertise, together with 2023 Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, all-time prime scorer Hermoso, veteran midfielder Alexia Alexia Putellas and promising winger Salma Paralluelo.
“We’re an formidable crew and I’m an formidable one who by no means will get bored with successful,” stated Bonmati, who received La Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona final season.
“An important factor now’s to deal with successful the gold medal.”
Led by new coach Montese Tomei, Spain is in Group C with 2011 world champion Japan, two-time Olympic silver medalist Brazil and Africa’s top-ranked Nigeria.
Marta assured in Brazil and Canada
Brazil will head to Paris 2024 in quest of the gold medal that eluded them after taking silver on the 2004 and 2008 Video games.
Head coach Arthur Elias’s squad contains top-of-the-line gamers ever in Marta. The 38-year-old will play her sixth and closing recreation earlier than retiring from worldwide soccer on the finish of the yr, with the legendary striker hoping to lastly add one other gold medal to her lengthy checklist of profession achievements.
“She brings so much to the desk, she’s the best athlete of all time,” Elias stated of Marta, Brazil’s prime scorer.
Canada retained a big portion of its gold medal-winning squad, with head coach Bev Priestman naming 13 gamers who had been profitable on the Tokyo Olympics.
Captain Jessie Fleming, one among six ladies on the 18-strong squad competing of their third consecutive Olympics, stated the eighth-placed crew was assured of an excellent efficiency.
Canada is the one crew to have completed on the rostrum in ladies’s soccer on the previous three Olympics.
“We have now grown so much as a crew over the previous yr and we’re assured we are able to repeat our historic success on this match,” Fleming stated. Ristine Sinclair took over as captain after retiring on the finish of final yr.
The Canadian crew is in Group A with the host France, Colombia and New Zealand.
⚽ Keep knowledgeable:
You possibly can observe the motion on Al Jazeera’s devoted Paris 2024 occasion web page, which incorporates all information and options, in addition to occasion preparations and stay textual content commentary on chosen soccer, basketball, tennis and boxing matches.
