The U.S. Men’s Olympic Soccer Team is set to play its first match at the Summer Games since 2008 when it kicks off play in Group A against hosts France at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 24.
Ahead of the team’s debut, take a look back through some of the most important matches in Olympic MNT history, which dates back a century to the 1924 games in Paris.
Since then, here are five memorable moments that stood out for the US in the Olympic Games:
U.S. 1, Estonia 0 - 1924 Summer Olympics, Paris
After a nine-day voyage on the United States Line steamer America, the U.S. team disembarked at Cherbourg, France on May 19.
Six days later, on May 25, in the USMNT's Olympic debut, the team recorded a 1-0 triumph over Estonia at Stade Pershing.
Center forward Andy Straden converted a penalty kick past goalkeeper August Lass in the 15th minute. Straden went on to score three times in four international appearances. Back in the day before the World Cup began, Olympic participation was considered a full cap.
Keeper James Douglas recorded the clean sheet.
In a story he wrote for the Boston Globe on Dec. 17, 1924, U.S. manager George Collins praised Douglas.
"How that boy did tend goal!" he wrote. "His work was outstanding."
Echo De Paris wrote this about the U.S.: "These Americans are astonishing athletes. They scarcely play rugby or soccer at home, yet they succeed in classing themselves among the best here."
According to an Associated Press report, the U.S. experienced "great difficulty in defeating the Estonians and was considered by the spectators as having been lucky to win, as Estonians outplayed them during the greater part of the time."
Bottom line: the USA prevailed.
That tournament was a knockout-round competition, years before group stage play was implemented. The Americans were eliminated in the second round, dropping a 3-0 decision to a legendary Uruguay squad. The South Americans not only would go on to earn the gold medal in this tournament, but also in the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam as well as the very first FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930.
U.S. 3, Costa Rica 0 - 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles
Incredible as it may seem, it took 60 years before the USA men would record another Olympic victory.
That occurred on July 29, 1984, when captain Rick Davis struck twice and Jean Willrich added another goal en route to a 3-0 opening victory over the Ticos in Group D. The 78,265 people at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. marked the largest crowd to see a soccer game in the USA. It surpassed the record 77,691 that saw the New York Cosmos defeat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in the 1977 North American Soccer League playoffs.
Davis gave the hosts all the scoring they needed, drilling a free kick past netminder Marco Rojas in the 23rd minute.
Willrich, a West German native who became a citizen earlier that month by a special act of Congress so that he could compete, doubled the margin in the 35th minute. After receiving a Chico Borja feed, Willrich buried a left-footed shot into the right side.
Davis capped off the game, turning a chip pass from substitute Jeff Hooker into a goal, scoring from point-blank range in the 87th minute.
Goalie David Brcic was called on to make only one save for the shutout.
"Not only didthe U.S. score three goals, we had the chance to score many more," U.S. head coach Aliks Panagoulias told the Los Angeles Times. "I think it's a great day for the United States.”
U.S. 2, Tunisia 0 - 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta
Even with midfielder Claudio Reyna marked out of the game, the U.S. proved it could still play attacking soccer. Faced with elimination after losing to Argentina in its opener 3-1, they rebounded with a 2-0 victory over Tunisia in front of 45,687 spectators at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. on July 22, 1996.
The win was a bizarre one that included a delayed start due to a late afternoon thunderstorm, two ejections, six yellowcards and a Tunisian player running around with two yellow cards for two minutes midway through the second half. The result kept the Americans' chances alive of reaching the quarterfinals.
Jovan Kirovski fired home a 23-yard free kick over the defensive wall past keeper Chokri El Ourer into the upper left corner for a 1-0 advantage in the 38th minute.
Brian Maisonneuve gave the U.S. some breathing room in the 90th minute, heading in Alexi Lalas' feed. Keeper Kasey Keller registered the clean sheet.
As for the confusion during the match, referee Hugh Dallas had forgotten he awarded Ferid Chouchane a yellow in the 38th minute when he showed the Tunisian player the card again in the 67th minute. Chouchane played with two yellow for 125 seconds until U.S. head coach Bruce Arena notified the fourth official of the oversight.
Arena gave the result and effort a big-time thumb's up.
"It was a great performance by the U.S. team," he said. "All we wanted to be was in a position to make the game in Washington worthwhile. Now the destiny is in our hands."
The USA (1-1-1) would draw 1-1 with Portugal in the nation's capital in its final group match on July 24.
U.S. 3, Kuwait 1 - 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney
For the first time in 76 years, a U.S. men's team qualified for the knockout round of the Summer Games after a 3-1 triumph over Kuwait in its Group C finale in Melbourne, Australia on Sept. 19, 2000. The Americans (1-0-2, 5 points) finished atop the group on goal differential (+2 to +1) over Cameroon (1-0-2). The Americans registered a 1-1 deadlock with Cameroon in the group stage, who went on to secure the gold medal.
The had USA won for only the fifth time in Olympic play, and scored three goals for just the second time in the competition.
"It was one of the greatest moments," said phenom Landon Donovan – then 18 years old - who scored a goal off of a counterattack in the 88th minute. "We are playing with a lot of confidence."
Dan Califf's four-yard header off defender Jeff Agoos' corner kick beat goalie Shehab Kanhone in the 40th minute, the climax to an opening half that was played in the rain. Agoos' throw-in then started the sequence on the second goal in the 63rd minute. Josh Wolff sent a long pass down the left wing to Chris Albright, who raced into the penalty area and beat his man before scoring from a difficult angle.
Sub Bader Najem tallied for the Kuwait in the 83rd minute, but Donovan restored the U.S. two-goal margin five minutes later.
"I feel very proud of being a part of what they accomplished," U.S. head coach Clive Charles said. "This is our most important achievement. I will be totally honest. We feel we played better in the last two games. We were fortunate to score some goals."
U.S. 2, Japan 2 (5-4, PKs) - 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney
In an epic battle and dramatic finish, the surprising Americans combined guile, grit, talent and a little luck to subdue a determined Japanese side and reach the medal round for the first time. The team played to a 2-2 draw before the Americans prevailed 5-4 in penalty kicks at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia on Sept. 23, 2000.
The U.S. had many heroes, but if it wasn't for midfielder Peter Vagenas converting a 90th minute penalty kick under pressure to force the match into extra time, the Americans would not have been in a position to win.
Twice the Americans overcame deficits. Josh Wolff's 16-yard score in the 68th minute equalized Atsushi Yanagisawa's six-yard header on the half hour. He also was fouled to set up Vagenas' 90th-minute penalty kick, which negated Naohiro Takahara's tally from six yards in the 72nd minute.
In the shootout, Vagenas put away the USA's first attempt, as Agoos, Donovan, and Wolff followed suit. Sasha Victorine, who made his Olympic debut at the start of extra time, slammed his attempt home to boost his team into the medal round. Goalkeeper Brad Friedel did not make a save as Hidetoshi Nakata hit the left post on Japan's fourth try.
"We got together before PKs and said, 'Hey relax, live this up, you're never going to have this opportunity again,’" Victorine said. "No matter what, we've gone great."
Added Friedel: "It would be unbelievable if we win a medal. Once you get into the gold-medal match, anything can happen."
