The women's Olympic football tournament will kick off on Thursday with 12 teams eying the winner's podium. The U.S. women's national team will try and improve on their Tokyo bronze medal with new head coach Emma Hayes. While Spain, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup champions, are considered heavy favorites for the gold medal.
Alongside tournament hosts France, and reigning gold medalists Canada, any team can play spoiler. Eight of the 12 teams will claim spots in the quarterfinals and anything can happen in the knockout rounds.
Olympic men's soccer gets underway on Wednesday with the first round of group stage games ahead of what promises to be an intriguing tournament rich with talent. From the Paris Games' host nation France to the USA U-23 team, there are a number of contenders for the gold medal including UEFA Euro 2024 winners Spain with La Roja targeting a men's double. With previous winners Brazil not even present, there will be no title defense as the games play out largely away from the French capital because of the need for the main soccer venue -- Stade de France -- for the other disciplines. The next three weeks promise to continue your summer soccer fix in style and we try to foresee how it will all pan out in this tournament of U-23 teams plus three overage players each.
Ahead of the games, here are our staff picks:
| Award |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Spain | USWNT | USWNT | Spain | Spain | France |
| Silver | Japan | Spain | Spain | USWNT | USWNT | USWNT |
| Bronze | USWNT | France | France | France | France | Spain |
| How far will USA go? | Bronze medal | All the way! | Gold medal | Silver medal | Silver medal | Silver medal |
| Biggest Disappointment | Canada | Australia | Canada | Canada | Germany | Germany |
USWNT's key player
Mallory Swanson: Since the USWNT exited the Women's World Cup on the back of a scoreless run of over 200 minutes, the team's attack has been a major area of focus. Many will point to the fact that Swanson's absence last year after she tore her patella tendon messed with the USWNT's plans Down Under, but her return to play this year for both club and country has offered encouragement that this team can return to attacking ways. She alone cannot fix things – the USWNT's failure to score more than one goal in their last two games is a signal that there's still a lot of room for improvement. It feels more like a matter of when, not if, Swanson and her likely partners in attack, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, begin to click and if Swanson builds some form in France, expect the U.S. to be the best versions of themselves. -- Pardeep Cattry
USWNT's biggest threat
Old habit of not making changes soon enough: For the first time, the U.S. women's national team will have some unpredictability on their side heading into the Olympics. Armed with versatility across lines and a new coaching staff, Emma Hayes' ability and willingness to shift tactics when and where the game shifts will be a major asset during the tournament. A competition with little time for adjustments on either side of the ball might work in the USWNT's favor. -- Sandra Herrera
What's success for USWNT?
Cleary, on-pitch performance progression: This may be a controversial thing to say, but the USWNT's performances will be more important than the actual results at this edition of the Olympic Games. Their group stage opener against Zambia will be just Emma Hayes' fifth game in charge of the team, and it is clear this team is not the finished product, making the Olympics a building block for Hayes' long-term vision of the program. A berth in the quarterfinals is perhaps the only true expectation that can be placed on the USWNT in terms of finishes, but they need to be judged right now on a game-by-game basis and almost strictly on performances. That may feel like it's at odds with the idea that the U.S. need to correct course after a disappointing Women's World Cup, but the idea of focusing on smaller tasks is the most productive way to ensure long-term improvements – even if it requires patience. -- Pardeep Cattry