Olympics 2024: Morocco eliminates U.S. men in soccer quarters - ESPN

PARIS — After a strong finish to the group stage raised dreams of a surprising run for the United States' Olympic men's soccer team, the Americans saw their hopes erased on Friday — in comprehensive fashion — in a 4-0 defeat to Morocco at the Parc des Princes.

Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi, playing in his club's home stadium, offered a suitable exclamation point for Morocco with a sharp finish after a blazing run on 70 minutes, but the U.S. felt all but gone even earlier.

Ilias Akhomach's goal had already created an obstacle too big for this team full of young Americans — a group that had scored seven goals in its previous two games but struggled to break through at all against a top African side. Mehdi Maouhoub's penalty in stoppage time was meaningful only inasmuch as it offered the Moroccans one more chance to celebrate.

The U.S. players will surely have some regrets, but in time, they will likely see the overall showing here as encouraging. After playing France level for 60 of the 90 minutes in their tournament opener, the Americans — led by consistently strong performances from Kevin Paredes and Djordje Mihailovic — defeated New Zealand and Guinea to push a U.S. men's team into the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since 2000.

Against Morocco, coach Marko Mitrović stuck with the same front three from the Guinea match — Paredes, Paxten Aaronson and Griffin Yow — but the verve and excitement the trio produced in Saint-Etienne wasn't replicated against an excellent Moroccan team, which finished top of its group.

Soufiane Rahimi, who scored Morocco's opener on Friday from the spot, is the leading scorer of the tournament.

Coming in, the United States knew this was by far the stoutest test it