- Alexandre Lacazette - 61'
- Michael Olise - 69'
- Loïc Badé - 85'
France beats United States as Olympic men's soccer begins
France beat the United States 3-0 thanks to a second-half barrage as the teams began group play in the men's Olympic tournament in Marseille on Wednesday.
After a scoreless first half, the floodgates opened when Alexandre Lacazette, one of France's senior players in the squad, lashed a shot past U.S. keeper Patrick Schulte to make it 1-0.
Michael Olise, who just made a high-profile move from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich, doubled the lead soon after and Loïc Badé smashed home a header before full-time to give Thierry Henry's host side the opening win and top spot in Group A.
Before finding its stride, France had to battle hard against a U.S. team that saw a shot from Djordje Mihailovic hit the cross bar when the game was still goalless. Lacazette's goal came almost immediately after.
The United States, making a first Olympic appearance in men's soccer since 2008, is in third behind New Zealand, which beat Guinea 2-1 in the other Group A match of the day.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Yael Falcón Pérez
Men's Olympic Soccer Tournament Standings
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
France U23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
United States U23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
New Zealand U23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 3 |
Guinea U23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -5 | 0 |