Here’s why there aren’t there more men’s soccer stars participating in the Olympics

Casual fans watching Olympic football may be wondering why France is not featuring some of the stars who have featured in this summer’s big tournaments, such as the Copa America and Euro 2024.

Fan confusion certainly reached a peak during the Olympic group stage matches, with France’s Kylian Mbappé, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Spain’s young star Lamine Yamal and even USAChristian Pulisic.

So why? Why aren’t there any global stars or American celebrities competing in the Olympics? The explanation lies in the way soccer tournaments have been run over the past few decades.

The reason is historical

FIFA, which still governs the Olympics despite it being organized by the International Olympic Committee, has long been at odds with the Olympics on the men’s side, as it does not want any tournament to be on the same level as the World Cup, which is held every four years.

However, for nearly a century, the Olympics was considered a fully international tournament for men, with qualifying teams sending all of their players, and many considered winning a gold medal to be the equivalent of winning a world championship. The two stars above Uruguay’s coat of arms are for their gold medal wins in 1924 and 1928, the only two Olympic tournaments that FIFA has allowed to equate to winning a World Cup. However, the Olympics did not allow professional athletes to participate, limiting the players teams could take.

After the 1988 Games, the Olympics decided to allow professional players to participate, but FIFA wanted to reduce some of the powers of the Olympics. They made the men’s tournament an U-23 tournament and reduced the number of registered players to 18. Teams were now allowed to have up to three players over the age of 23 on their Olympic roster, allowing older players to participate in the Olympics. So, even though professionals were allowed to participate, FIFA’s rule changes allowed clubs to hold on to their older stars.

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An outside look at an Olympic gold medal

The biggest problem for these teams is that because they are designated as men’s youth tournaments, FIFA call-up rules apply to them. While FIFA requires clubs to release players for official senior international tournaments like the World Cup, Copa America, European Championships, and CONCACAF Gold Cup, or during official annual international tournaments, clubs are not required to release players to call up to youth national teams, regardless of the situation. This means that clubs can deny players the Olympic dream.

And that was true for many players. Kylian Mbappé, who captained France at Euro 2024, expressed interest in playing for France as an overage player at the Olympics. The idea It was rejected pretty quickly With his new club, real madridLionel Messi, who led Argentina to a second consecutive Copa America title, also would not have been allowed to depart for the Olympics, with both players dealing with injuries sustained in their respective tournaments only hurting their chances.

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The same goes for players like Lamine Yamal and Spain striker Nico Williams. Both players helped Spain win their fourth European Championship and are under 23. But their clubs were not willing to sell them for the Olympics. Many of these players will need rest before the start of their club seasons, so we probably won’t see them in France either.

The U.S. Men’s U-23 team has one player in Myles Robinson, who was on the Olympic team and a member of the Copa America squad, but players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie have not been released by their clubs despite interest. McKennie is also looking for a new club, so Juventus His current club does not want to risk him getting injured during the Olympics.

The U.S. also had some core players on the U-23 team who were denied a chance to become Olympians. Cade Cowell and Brandon Vázquez both play for Liga MX teams, whose season began a few weeks ago. Both players are either starters or play extensive minutes for their teams, so they had their call-up attempts rejected and were forced to stay away from the team.

For Olympic athletes, it’s a golden opportunity to represent their countries on one of sport’s biggest international stages, and for fans, it’s a chance to learn more about the athletes who, in many ways, may represent the future of the sport.