By Nicholas Mendola

The men’s soccer tournament at the Olympics is a bit of a unicorn, a u-23 tournament with some exceptions for overage stars and — sometimes — the biggest names in the world.

Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr are not competing this year but have won gold medals in the past, while current world stars like Man City’s Julian Alvarez and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette are making big impacts in Paris.

In other words, there are a load of big names from top clubs participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

And that’s without mentioning Mohamed Cisset, who is among an increasingly-rare class of men’s soccer Olympians who are active NCAA players. The Quebecois rising sophomore at Penn State is representing Mali in Paris.

Premier League players, other big-club stars at 2024 Paris Olympics

There are a lot of professional clubs represented at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including Premier League powers Manchester City, Chelsea, and Barcelona.

There’s a natural attraction for top players to participate in the Olympics, and each men’s team is allowed up to three players above the age of 23.

There were two huge senior international tournaments this summer in EURO 2024 and the 2024 Copa America, and that somewhat limited the overage options for the 16 nations competing in men’s soccer in Paris.

But here are some of the notable clubs who will be represented by players at the 2024 Games.

This long list doesn’t even include longtime Arsenal player Mohamed Elneny, who is currently a free agent and representing Egypt as an overage player. And lest we forget France coach Thierry Henry, one of the greatest players of all-time from his playing days.

Ajax: Geronimo Rulli (Argentina)

Atalanta: Henry Camara (Guinea)

Atletico Madrid: Pablo Barrios (Spain)

Anderlecht: Amadou Diawara (Guinea)

Barcelona: Fermin Lopez, Pau Cubarsi (Spain)

Bayern Munich: Michael Olise (France)

Benfica: Nicolas Otamendi (Argentina), Leo Kokubo (Japan)

Boca Juniors: Ezequiel Fernandez, Kevin Zenon, Cristian Medina, Leandro Brey (all Argentina)

Borussia Monchengladbach: Manu Kone (France)

Brighton and Hove Albion: Julio Enciso (Paraguay)

Chelsea: Gaga Slonina (United States), Caleb Wiley (United States), Lesley Ugochukwu* (France)

Crystal Palace: Jean-Philippe Mateta (France)

Fiorentina: Lucas Beltran (Argentina)

Ipswich Town: Henry Gray* (New Zealand)

Lyon: Alexandre Lacazette Rayan Cherki (both France), Lassine Diarra (Mali)

Manchester City: Julian Alvarez, Claudio Echeverri (both Argentina)

Monaco: Maghnes Akliouche, Soungoutou Magassa (both France), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Morocco)

Olympiacos: Algassime Bah (Guinea)

Paris Saint-Germain: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Arnau Tenas (Spain)

RB Leipzig: Castello Lukeba (France)

Real Betis: Abde Ezzalzouli (Morocco), Juan Miranda (Spain)

Real Madrid: Edgar Pujol (Dominican Republic)

Real Sociedad: Sergio Gomez (Spain)

Valencia: Peter Gonzalez (Dominican Republic), Diego Lopez (Spain)

Werder Bremen: Naby Keita (Guinea), Kein Sato (Japan)

Wolfsburg: Kevin Paredes (United States)

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Boubacar Traore (Mali), Enso Gonzalez (Paraguay)

How do men’s soccer teams qualify for Olympics?

There are six routes to the Olympics — six continental tournaments and one inter-confederation playoff.

Here are the ways this tournament’s teams made it to Paris.

The United States and Dominican Republic qualified through the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

Japan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq advanced via the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

Spain, Israel, and Ukraine qualified through the UEFA U-21 Championship.

Morocco, Egypt, and Mali made their way through the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

Oceania and South America stage specific Olympic qualifying tournaments. New Zealand’s spot was won through the OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament, while Paraguay and Argentina went through the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament.

Guinea beat Indonesia in the AFC-CAF playoff.

Do you have to be born in a country to play for their Olympic team?

Nope, and it’s not as simple as a player representing their senior national team since this is not a FIFA competition (and by extension, it’s made more complicated as clubs are not obligated to release players to non-FIFA competitions). This is also why teams at the Olympics do not wear the same logos that viewers are accustomed to seeing at World Cups or other FIFA competitions.

For example: France’s Michael Olise was born in England to a Nigerian father and French-Algerian mother. All four nations were eligible to register him.

United States midfielder Gianluca Busio could’ve represented Italy as well, while USA goalkeeper Gabriel ‘Gaga’ Slonina was also eligible to play for Poland.

Far from straight-forward.

Source: wralsportsfan.com