Following a superb Barclays Women’s Super League term in 2023/24, five members of Gareth Taylor’s squad were called upon across three nations to compete in Paris.
Meanwhile, one player within Pep Guardiola’s team was included as an ‘overage’ player for their country to help their quest for gold.
Following three opening matches each, the group stages have now concluded – here’s how City’s stars got on.
ARGENTINA
After helping his nation to Copa America glory in July, Julian Alvarez was called into Javier Mascherano’s Under-23s as one of three overage players.
He would then go on to start all three Olympic matches for his nation as they secured passage into the quarter-finals by finishing second in Group B.
La Arana’s nation opened their tournament with a dramatic 2-1 loss to Morocco, where they found themselves two down in the 51st minute.
Giuliano Simeone pulled a goal back in the 68th and Argentina thought they had equalised deep into stoppage time when Cristian Medina headed home from close range,
However, the match was suspended shortly after due to a pitch invasion and other crowd disturbances - with many thinking the full-time whistle had been blown.
Instead, the fixture resumed over an hour later behind closed doors before the officials ruled out Argentina’s equaliser after consulting VAR due to an offside in the build-up.
Mascherano’s men then bounced back with a convincing 3-1 win over Iraq before a 2-0 win over Ukraine confirmed their place in the last-eight.
Following Morocco’s 3-0 win over Iraq in their final group game, Alvarez and Co. finished in second place due to their head-to-head record with the African nation at the tournament after the nations finished on the same goal difference and goals scored.
JAPAN
City midfielder Yui Hasegawa and our second summer signing Risa Shimizu were included in Japan’s squad for the Games.
The pair both started in their nation’s opening 2-1 defeat to Spain, however, the latter suffered a knee injury during the clash and has since returned to the City Football Academy for further assessment by the Club’s medical team.
Hasegawa then featured in their second assignment – a dramatic 2-1 victory over Brazil where they scored twice in second-half stoppage time to claim a vital three points.
This meant a victory against Nigeria in Japan’s final group match would secure a place in the quarter-finals and a fantastic first-half display set them up for just that.
Maika Hamano opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Mina Tanaka doubled their advantage 10 minutes later.
Although Nigeria halved the deficit close to half-time, Hikaru Kitagawa restored their strong advantage in added time.
The 3-1 scoreline remained until the full-time whistle and confirmed Hasegawa’s nation’s place in the knockout stage.
SPAIN
Laia Aleixandri has played every minute for Spain at the 2024 Games so far – helping her nation maintain an 100% record across the group stage.
Their first success came in a 2-1 win over Japan where they came from a goal down to collect three points thanks to strikes from Aitana Bonmati and Maria Caldentey.
City’s defender then helped La Roja to a clean sheet in their next fixture against Nigeria where a dramatic late goal from the talismanic Alexia Putellas secured a hard fought 1-0 success – meaning they just needed to avoid defeat to Brazil in their final assignment to progress.
In another well contested fixture, goals from Athenea Del Castillo and Putellas helped them to a 2-0 win and to Group C’s summit.
AUSTRALIA
Unfortunately, Australia’s 2024 Olympic journey ended at the group stage as they narrowly missed out on advancing as one of the best third-placed teams on goal difference.
After scoring seven goals and conceding 10 across their three matches they had a differential of -3, meanwhile Brazil – who progressed alongside Colombia with three points – possessed -2.
City duo Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy played the full 90 minutes in their opening 3-0 defeat to Germany and also in their enthralling encounter with Zambia.
The Matildas edged an 11-goal thriller with Taylor’s side’s centre-back on the scoresheet in a 6-5 win.
Although Kennedy found the net again in their final fixture with the United States, their narrow 2-1 defeat wasn’t enough to see them progress as one of the highest ranked third-placed teams.
LAST-eight FIXTURES
France v Argentina | Julian Alvarez | Friday 2 August | 20:00 (UK) kick-off
United States v Japan | Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino | Saturday 3 August | 14:00 (UK) kick-off
Spain v Colombia | Laia Aleixandri | Saturday 3 August | 16:00 (UK) kick-off
