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

Casual fans may tune in with confusion, but there’s a historic explanation.

Casual fans tuning in for Olympic soccer might be wondering why some of the stars who were present for big tournaments this summer, like Copa America or Euro 2024 aren’t present in France.

Fan confusion has certainly peaked watching group stage Olympic matches only to find many of the world’s stars were not present: Kylian Mbappé for France, Lionel Messi for Argentina, young Spanish breakout star Lamine Yamal, or even the USMNT’s Christian Pulisic.

So why? Why wouldn’t those global stars or American household names be present at the Olympic Games? The explanation is in how the football tournament has been organized for the past few decades.

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The reason has history

FIFA, who is still the governing body of the tournament despite the Olympics being organized by the International Olympic Committee, has long been at odds with the Olympics on the men’s side. FIFA has never wanted any tournament to be on the same level as the World Cup, which takes places every four years.

However, for almost a century, the Olympic Games were considered a full international tournament on the men’s side, with teams who qualified sending their full squads and many considering winning the gold medal akin to winning a world championship. Two of the stars above Uruguay’s crest are for winning the gold medal in 1924 and 1928, which are the only two Olympic tournaments that FIFA has allowed to be designated as the same as winning a World Cup. However, the Olympics didn’t allow professional athletes to participate, which limited who teams could bring.

After the 1988 tournament, the Olympics decided to allow professionals to participate, but FIFA decided that they wanted to take some of the power away from the Olympics. They made the men’s football tournament a U-23 tournament, with rosters being reduced in size to 18 players. Teams were allowed to have up to three players on their Olympic roster over the age of 23, which would allow for some older players to participate in the Olympic experience. So, despite professionals being allowed, FIFA’s rule change made it so clubs could hang onto their older stars.

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Outside looking in at Olympic gold

The main hiccup for these teams is that since it is designated as a youth tournament for the men, FIFA’s call-up rules are in effect. While FIFA requires clubs to release players for official senior international tournaments — like the World Cup, Copa América, the European Championships, or Concacaf Gold Cup — or during one of the official international windows during a year, no club is required to release a player for any youth national team call-up, no matter the circumstance. That means that clubs can deny a player from living out their Olympic dreams.

And that was the case for many of these players. Kylian Mbappé, who captained France during Euro 2024, expressed interest in playing for France as an overage player during the Olympics. That idea was denied fairly quickly by his new club, Real Madrid. Lionel Messi, after leading Argentina to a second straight Copa América title, would never have been allowed to depart for the Olympics as well. It only hurt their chances that both are dealing with injuries sustained during their respective tournaments.

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Same went for players like Lamine Yamal or Spain striker Nico Williams. Both players helped Spain to winning their fourth European Championship and both are under 23 years old. However, their clubs were not going to release them for the Olympics as well. Many of these players will need the rest ahead of the start of their club seasons, so you won’t see them play in France either.

For the U-23s of U.S. men’s national team, the Olympic team does have one player who was also on the Copa América roster: Miles Robinson. However, guys like Christian Pulisic or Weston McKennie, despite their interest, were never going to be released by their clubs. McKennie is also in search of a new club, so Juventus — his current club — would not want him to risk injury during the Olympic tournament.

The United States also had players who were core parts of their U-23 team that were denied the opportunity to become Olympians. Cade Cowell and Brandon Vazquez both play for teams in Liga MX, who started their season a couple weeks ago. With both of them either starting or playing heavy minutes for their teams, attempts to call up the players were rejected, forcing them to stay back from the team.

For those players who are in the Olympics, it’s a unique chance for them to represent their country on one of the biggest international stages there is in sports. And, it’s a chance for the fans to learn more about some of these players who could represent, in many ways, the future of the sport.