Why men’s Olympic soccer is a JV event (in which the USA could compete for a medal)

Kylian Mbappé really wanted to play at the Paris Olympics. Lionel Messi supposedly I did too. But neither will, because they, like most men’s football stars, are victims of a long-standing power struggle dominated by the sport’s global governing body, FIFA.

The fight is the reason organizers place two main restrictions on each man’s Olympic lineup:

1. All but three players must be 23 years of age or younger.

2. Regardless of the player’s age, his professional club is not obliged to grant him permission to play in the tournament.

The second rule ruined Mbappé’s dream. Not even French President Emmanuel Macron could save him. “I have always said that the Paris Games are special and I wanted to be there,” Mbappé, a native of Paris, said in March. But Real Madrid refused to release him. And, well, “it’s our employer,” explained French teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni. “If Real Madrid vetoes it, there’s not much to say.”

Dozens of other clubs have also refused to grant the necessary permissions. And so, from the 100 best players in the worldonly two – Argentine Julián Álvarez and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi – will be present.

Most of the 288 players will instead be rookies or middling veterans. None of the regular players on the US men’s national team that competed in the 2024 Copa América – not even under-23 stars like Gio Reyna – are expected to be part of the US squad, which will be announced on Monday. The three over-23 selections are MLS defenders Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic.

The rules make men’s Olympic football a kind of youth competition. And they exist because FIFA does not want the Games – or any other football tournament – ​​to rival the World Cup. The historical explanation, however, is a little more subtle.

FIFA plays friendly with the IOC, to some extent

Once upon a time, a century ago, when there was still no World Cup to rival, the The Olympics were the pinnacle of football. FIFA recognized the Games as world championships in the 1920s, until amateurism complicated things.

Football, at the time, was slowly becoming professional. The International Olympic Committee held to the ideal that all participants should be amateurs. Then FIFA took control and launched a World Cup open to everyonewhich instantly surpassed the Olympic tournament.

Thus began a series of disputes between FIFA and the IOC that shaped Olympic football. Amid the first of several eligibility disputes, football dropped from the Olympic program in 1932. It returned in 1936 and remained after World War II, but also remained strictly amateur. Then it crystallized as a second-rate competition.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the IOC finally overturned the rules surrounding amateurism. But by then the script had changed. FIFA matured into a commercially oriented organization that recognized that a fully professional Olympic football tournament would be a potential threat to the pre-eminence – and profitability – of the men’s World Cup.

Thus, he negotiated a succession of compromises. The first: in the 1980s, countries outside of Europe and South America could field all of their professionals, but any European or South American who had played in a World Cup was not eligible.

In 1992, the under-23 rule replaced these unequal restrictions. In 1996, the three surplus players were added. These limitations have remained in effect since then.

But they are not the extent of FIFA’s control. Its main mechanism is called “international calendar,” which opens specific windows during which professional clubs (the soccer equivalents of the Lakers or Yankees) must allow players to join their national teams (Team USA).

The windows are structured around major tournaments; they guarantee, for example, that all players are available for continental championships such as the Euros and the Copa América.

The Olympics, however, are not on the FIFA calendar. Olympic availability, therefore, becomes a topic of sometimes controversial dialogue between coaches, agents, players and their national team clubs.

The Olympic lineup puzzle

These negotiations are what USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter called “the first hurdle.” For months, Berhalter, US Soccer Federation officials and U23 coach Marko Mitrovic, who will lead the Olympic team, exchanged ideas with clubs in an attempt to secure players for the Paris Games.

And some clubs rejected them. Supported by FIFA rules, clubs held every last drop of influence. Those in Europe start the pre-seasons in July and the seasons in August, so, acting in their own interests, they prevent important players from attending the Olympic Games. US hopefuls supposedly denied include Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Brandon Vázquez (Monterrey) and Haji Wright (Coventry City).

These negotiations, however, are just one part of the puzzle that Mitrovic, Berhalter and their peers around the world have had to put together. “The second barrier”, as Berhalter said, was “participation in the Copa América”. The World Cup and the Euros were the priority tournaments for six Olympic candidates from Europe and the Americas. They brought more prestige and prize money. And they happened weeks before the 2024 Games.

The USA, Argentina, France and Spain took their A teams to these tournaments. They also knew that the A team players would, at some point, need a break. Going through a long European club season (August-May), then the Copa América (June-July) and then the Olympics (July-August) would leave anyone taking part in both international tournaments with insufficient rest.

A post-Olympic break, on the other hand – even a two-week mini-offseason – would set them back at the start of the 2024-25 club season.

Therefore, the US lineups for the Copa América and the Olympics will be almost completely different. Only Robinson, who didn’t play a single minute in the World Cup and whose MLS club season runs from February to December, will be in both.

And only a few foreign players, like Manchester City’s Álvarez, will accept the club’s setback and play for both. Dozens of others will be on vacation when the Games begin and on pre-season tours with their clubs as the Olympic round of 16 identifies a champion.

Olympic parity gives hope to the US

The advantage of the many complications is that they can be an equalizing force, which could give the US medal hope.

The USMNT, of course, has never made it past the quarterfinals of a modern World Cup; cannot be on par with France, Spain or Argentina. But your JV team could compete with other JV teams around the world. They are expected to advance from a group that also includes France, New Zealand and Guinea.

The Olympic field, in general, it is not stacked like a World Cup would be. No continental confederation gets more than three places. Two of the three European teams that qualified through the UEFA Under-21 Championship were Israel and Ukraine. Other nations involved include Iraq, Uzbekistan, Mali, Egypt and the Dominican Republic.

For all these reasons, men’s Olympic football can be something of a crapshoot. While the women’s competition is simply a watered-down World Cup with all stars eligible, the men’s champions of the modern era include Mexico, Cameroon and Nigeria; medalists include South Korea, Paraguay and Chile.

The usual suspects – France, Argentina and Spain – will still be the favorites in 2024. But the USA, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2008, could challenge for a medal. Opens Wednesday, July 24 (3 p.m. ET, USA/Peacock/Telemundo), two days before the Opening Ceremony, with a prime-time clash in Marseille against hosts France.