A hundred years after Paris hosted the Summer Olympics, it's time for the capital to get the attention of the sports world again.
Today, the Olympics kick off across France with the men's football tournament, lacking EM stars Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal – but Copa América winner Julián Álvarez is participating.
TV: Eurosport 14.30–23.07. Streaming on Max and partially on Discovery+.
+ The Olympics kick off – Mbappé is missing
The host nation would have liked to have had superstar Kylian Mbappé when the Olympics kick off today with the men's football tournament, with France facing the USA in Marseille. Before the European Championship premiere against Austria, where Mbappé later broke his nose, earlier this summer, the 25-year-old star striker, who was recruited by Real Madrid before the European Championship, was clear that he wouldn't play in the home Olympics.
My club's stance is very clear, and I have accepted that I won't be there. I understand the club's stance since I'm a new acquisition. I hope they win, said Mbappé about the Olympics according to Eurosport.
+ ... but not Álvarez and Hakimi
Despite the star absences, some profiles are participating in the tournament. Argentina's attacking star Julián Álvarez, World Championship gold medalist in 2022 and fresh Copa América winner, and Morocco's wing-back profile Achraf Hakimi, selected for the world team in the World Championship when Morocco reached the semifinals, are present in France with their respective national teams despite long seasons with club teams Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
+ Age is in – no Yamal
The men's Olympic football tournament is a U23 tournament, but some over-age players can be selected for each team. Spain lacks Lamine Yamal, Barcelona's 17-year-old who broke through big during the European Championship and has the age to be part of the regular squad.
The Olympics are one of the finest tournaments you can play, but I have a lot of minutes in my body. I want to have a very long career, and I would have been very angry with myself if something had happened to me if I had doubled, he says according to FourFourTwo, referring to Onda Cero.
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Schedule (15.00–23.00)
FOOTBALL: men, group stage: group A, Guinea–New Zealand (19.00, Nice), France–USA (21.00, Marseille), group B, Argentina–Morocco (15.00, Saint-Étienne), Iraq–Ukraine (19.00, Lyon), group C, Uzbekistan–Spain (15.00, Paris), Egypt–Dominican Republic (17.00, Nantes), group D, Japan–Paraguay (19.00, Bordeaux), Mali–Israel (21.00, Paris).
RUGBY: men, seven players, group stage (from 15.30, Saint-Denis, Paris).
