Olympic Soccer (Men) - How to watch Mexico vs France in over 140 countries

July 21, 2021 By Oscar Rojas

Topics: Olympic Soccer - Men, Mexico U23, France U23, TV Schedules, TV Listings

El Tri and Les Bleus lock horns in what should be an interesting match to follow in Group A. Keep track of the game with this guide.

The second game of the Football tournament in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will feature two former gold medalists, who will get to this competition with high hopes for success. We are talking about Mexico and France, who lock horns at Ajinomoto Stadium.

The Mexicans get to this competition after winning the CONCACAF Qualifiers back in March. There, El Tri won all but one of their games, with the only exception being the title clash, where they needed a penalty shootout to claim the first place. Mexican coach called up most of the top players from that competition, which include Sebastián Córdova, Uriel Antuna, defender Johan Vázquez, and Alexis Vega. The only absence from that lot is José Juan Macías, who withdrew from the tournament due to an injury.

As for France, Les Bleus earned their spot in the Olympics after reaching the semis in the UEFA U-21 tournament held in 2019. The French side lost their semi-final clash against Spain, but they had already claimed a spot in this competition, which was a fine consolation for not winning that competition. That team feature some talented players, which will be represented by captain Lucas Tousart, goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni, since the other players were not allowed by their teams to attend the competition.

Speaking of the over age players each team brought to the tournament, we have to say that both sides picked wisely. The Mexican side chose none other than legendary goalie Guillermo Ochoa, who was named as Mexico's best player in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups. The other players called up by Jaime Lozano are América striker Henry Martín and midfielder Luis Romo, who helped Mexican side Cruz Azul end a 23-year title drought back in May.

As for France, Les Bleus also picked two of their three reinforcements from a Liga MX team. The players in question are André-Pierre Gignac, who earned a runner-up medal in the 2016 UEFA Euro championship, and 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Florian Thauvin. The other over age player included in France's squad is Montpellier midfielder Teji Savanier.

As we mentioned earlier, this game will feature two former gold medal winners in the Olympic football tournament. France won the competition in 1984, when only amateur players were allowed to play the competition. Meanwhile, Mexico won the 2012 edition with the current format that includes mainly U-23 players.

This will be the first meeting in a Olympic football tournament between France and Mexico, and we are surely looking forward to witness it.