U.S. men's Olympic run ends in rout by Morocco

PARIS — After a strong finish to the group stage inspired dreams of a surprising run for the United States‘ Olympic men’s soccer team, the Americans saw their hopes erased on Friday — in devastating fashion — in a 4-0 defeat to Morocco at the Parc des Princes.

Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi, playing in his club’s home stadium, offered a suitable exclamation point for Morocco with an inch-perfect finish after a blazing, counterattacking run on 70 minutes, but the truth was that the U.S. felt all but gone even earlier.

Ilias Akhomach‘s goal had already created an obstacle too big for this team full of young Americans — a group that had scored seven goals in its previous two games but struggled to break through at all against a top African side. Mehdi Maouhoub‘s penalty in stoppage time was meaningful only inasmuch as it offered the Moroccans one more chance to celebrate.

“They kept scoring, we didn’t,” Kevin Paredes said simply afterward. “I don’t know what other words I could say.”

Walker Zimmerman called Akhomach’s goal “the dagger” and added that “going down in the nature that we did was tough [and] pretty frustrating.

“It’s sad because I think it’s a group that has a lot of belief in each other and a lot of character,” Zimmerman said, “and I don’t think it showed through today.”

The U.S. players, all but three of whom were under 23 years old at the start of 2024 as per the rules of this tournament, will surely have some regrets, but in time, they will likely see the overall showing here as encouraging.

After playing France level for 60 of the 90 minutes in their tournament opener, the Americans — led by consistently strong performances from Paredes — defeated New Zealand and Guinea to push a U.S. men’s team into the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since 2000.

“Hopefully we take this defeat and it hurts a lot but it just makes us better,” Paredes said.

Against Morocco, coach Marko Mitrović stuck with the same front three from the Guinea match — Paredes, Paxten Aaronson and Griffin Yow — but the verve and excitement the trio produced in Saint-Etienne wasn’t replicated against an excellent Moroccan team, which finished top of its group.

Complementing Hakimi at the back, Soufiane Rahimi, who scored Morocco’s opener on Friday from the spot, is the leading scorer of the tournament and a constant threat up front.

“Obviously with the crowd being on their side, we kind of wanted to silence them early,” Jack McGlynn said. “We failed to do so, and they punished us.”

That dominance among the spectators which McGlynn referenced was impossible to miss. Moroccan fans — almost all wearing red — packed into all sections of the stadium, singing and chanting and whistling almost every American touch of the ball from the opening kickoff.

They also jeered every move by the referee of the game, Yael Falcón, a development surely due to Falcon’s nationality: Argentine.

After all, Morocco began this tournament by beating Argentina 2-1 in a match that devolved into chaos near its conclusion and featured a pitch invasion and a controversial VAR decision at the end that left Argentina on the wrong side of the scoreline.

Given that, many Moroccan fans were concerned about an Argentine refereeing their quarterfinal, but the most debatable decision made by Falcón actually left the Americans as the ones feeling aggrieved.

After successfully soaking up much of the Moroccan attack through the first 25 minutes or so, the U.S. was defending as the ball floated high into the right side of its penalty area.

Three players — U.S. fullback Nathan Harriel and Morocco’s Oussama El Azzouzi and Rahimi — converged, all with their feet up and legs extended.

It appeared that El Azzouzi clattered Rahimi most clearly, but Falcón, the referee, blew his whistle and awarded a penalty for what appeared to be a smaller touch from Harriel on Rahimi’s calf. VAR reviewed, and upheld, the call.

“It wasn’t a penalty,” Harriel said flatly afterward. “It wasn’t a penalty but whatever — we can’t do anything about it now.”

Rahimi then dispatched the spot kick, rippling the corner of the net with a shot goalkeeper Patrick Schulte nearly saved but couldn’t quite push wide.

It was exactly the start the U.S. had wanted to avoid, and the Americans struggled to find their way back in afterward. By the end of the first half, Morocco’s players seemed to be flipping the ball back and forth for fun as the U.S. chased.

Early in the second half, the U.S. did manage some moments; it had its best move of the game when Zimmerman, one of the three overage players permitted each team, nodded a looping ball back in front of goal.

Miles Robinson, another of the senior players, had a chance from point-blank range but scuffed his opportunity wide as Zimmerman dropped his head.

“It just didn’t come together for us today,” Zimmerman said. “And it’s hard when that happens in such an important moment.”

On the sideline, Mitrović stared. Minutes later, Abde Ezzalzouli broke down the left wing and cut a perfect ball back for Akhomach and the net rippled.

The Moroccans were flying. The U.S. was reeling.

Soon, they were out.