The mega-sports event, the Paris Olympics, is officially scheduled to begin on July 26, but some sports begin a few days before the opening ceremony, with the football and rugby sevens competitions starting on Wednesday. The opening match of men's football will be played between Olympic hosts France and the USA.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallists and recent European Championship winners Spain will face Olympic debutants Uzbekistan. Women's football will begin on July 25 with defending champions Canada and New Zealand playing in Group A. Sweden and Australia will also face each other in the women's category. The Australian team was unable to make it to the podium in 2020 due to a narrow margin.
Rugby-7s men will play the preliminary stage matches of the competition. The women's competition will be played from July 28. 288 best male and female rugby players from around the world will participate. Fiji won the gold medal in men's rugby-7s and New Zealand in women's. Fiji also became the gold medalist in the 2016 Rio Games. This time they have a chance to make a golden hat-trick. In Group-B, Samoa will participate in the Olympics for the first time and will face Tokyo Games silver medalist Argentina in their opening match.