Guinea’s under-23 football team have secured their place in the 2024 Olympic Games, where they will play the USMNT in Group A.
Guinea defeated Indonesia 1-0 in Thursday’s play-off — Ilaix Moriba scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot — in Clairefontaine to become the 16th and final qualifier for the men’s tournament in Paris.
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The match was a play-off between the sides from the African and Asian federations, with Guinea joining fellow African nations Egypt, Morocco and Mali in the finals.
The U.S. will play Guinea in their third group stage match in Saint-Etienne on July 30, after opening their campaign against hosts France in Marseille on July 24 and playing New Zealand in Marseille three days later.
In the women’s tournament draw, the USWNT have been drawn in Group B alongside Germany, Australia and Zambia.
However, Zambia’s women’s team may be prevented from participating due to an ongoing political crisis within the country’s football association.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, has said the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) faces being suspended — and therefore Zambian teams prevented from featuring at international tournaments — following “undue influence by third parties” in FAZ.
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Olympic men’s tournament draw:
Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand
Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Ukraine, Iraq
Group C: Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan
Group D: Paraguay, Mali, Israel, Japan
Olympic women’s tournament draw:
Group A: France, Colombia, Canada, New Zealand
Group B: USWNT, Zambia*, Germany, Australia
Group C: Spain, Japan, Nigeria, Brazil
* Subject to FIFA decision
(Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
