By Canadian Press

Olympic champion Canada drawn with France, Colombia and New Zealand at Paris Games

Mar 20, 2024 | 2:30 PM

Olympic champion Canada has been drawn with third-ranked France, No. 23 Colombia and No. 28 New Zealand in Group A at the Olympic women’s soccer tournament in Paris this summer.

The 12-team women’s competition runs July 25 through Aug. 10. Ninth-ranked Canada has made the Olympic podium the last three times, winning gold in Tokyo under coach Bev Priestman and bronze in Rio and London under John Herdman.

The draw could well have been worse for the Canadian women.

Group B features the fourth-ranked U.S., No. 5 Germany, No. 12 Australia and either No. 58 Morocco or No. 65 Zambia. Group C is No. 1 Spain, No. 7 Japan, No. 10 Brazil and either No. 36 Nigeria or No. 51 South Africa.

The African teams will be determined in the final round of qualifying April 1-9 in separate two-legged series.

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France will face Colombia in the opening women’s match.

The top two teams in each of the three groups, plus the two best third-place finishers, move on to the quarterfinals.

Wednesday’s draw was held in suburban Saint-Denis with former Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, one of the heroes at the Tokyo Games, and former Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba serving as draw assistants on the women’s side.

The 16-team men’s draw sees France, the U.S., the Asia-Africa playoff winner and New Zealand in Group A. Argentina, Morocco, Asian qualifier No. 3 and Ukraine are in Group B while Asian qualifier No. 2, Spain, Egypt and the Dominican Republic make up Group C. Group D is Asia qualifier No. 1, Paraguay, Mali and Israel.

The Asia entries will be determined at the Asia Cup in May. The fourth-placed Asian team will face Guinea in the Asian — African playoff.

The opening men’s match with be France versus the U.S.

The Canadian men have not qualified for the Olympic soccer tournament since 1984.

Men’s teams at the Olympics are restricted to under-23 players with a maximum of three over-age players allowed. There is no age restrictions for women’s teams.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press