Having been treated to a month of non-stop international football with Euro 2024 and the Copa America, the fun continues at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Sixteen teams will play across seven different stadiums in the men's tournament, and all will hope to have a gold medal placed around their necks on August 9 at the Parc des Princes.
There will be a new champion this time around, with Brazil, who triumphed in Tokyo, not participating in this year's tournament.
Will it be Thierry Henry's France, or will Argentina and Spain continue their recent international success on the global stage?
Here, we have a look at all the key information ahead of the action unfolding.
Football at the Olympics
In Olympic football, the general rules align with those of domestic and international play. However, for the men's teams, there's a notable difference in the age requirement for each nation.
Each of the 16 countries have confirmed their 18-man squads ahead of the tournament, but are only allowed to select three players over the age of 23.
The action will start on 24 July, with Argentina and Spain kicking off their respective campaigns in the day's early matches.
The tournament format consists of four groups containing four teams, with the top two advancing to the knockout stages.
A bronze medal match will take place a day prior to the final, and due to the number of fixtures needing to be played, the action will kickstart two days before the Olympics' official opening ceremony on July 26.
How do the groups look?
While France are considered among the favourites at their home Games, they have been placed in a group that contains one-time silver medallists United States and Tokyo 2020 quarter-finalists New Zealand, as well as minnows Guniea.
Henry's side have impressed in their pre-tournament preparations, scoring 12 goals in their three matches against the Dominican Republic, Japan and Paraguay.
Having been placed in the 'group of death' at Euro 2024, albeit they went on to lift the trophy anyway, Spain will sleep a little easier knowing they are to play two sides in Group C who are yet to participate at the Olympic Games.
La Roja feature in a group containing Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic, but will also play Egypt, who are making their 12th appearance in the competition.
Argentina are placed in Group B, with their biggest test coming in their opening game against Morocco, with Iraq and Ukraine rounding out that pool.
Japan are the standout side in Group D, having previously featured in 11 editions of the Games; they will square off against Paraguay, Mali and Israel.
Spain and Argentina gunning for gold, but France will have their say
Spain and Argentina are the hot favourites to build on their summer tournament successes, though France, as hosts, are certainly right in the mix.
Argentina have the chance to clinch a record-equalling third gold medal in Paris, and would go level with Great Britain and Hungary as the most successful nation in the competition's history.
La Albiceleste previously triumphed in back-to-back Olympic Games, securing their maiden win in Athens 20 years ago, followed by another gold in Beijing four years later.
Javier Mascherano is coaching Argentina, and his squad includes two Copa America winners in the form of Nicolas Otamendi and Manchester City's Julian Alvarez. Thiago Almada, who has just signed for Botafogo in Brazil, was a star of MLS in recent years and is certainly one to watch.
Argentina have, however, failed to get out of the group in their previous two appearances at the games, but will be confident of reaching the knockout stages this time around.
Spain are in search of a first gold medal since Barcelona 1992, and they will hope to make up for their defeat to Brazil in the Tokyo final.
Their squad includes Fermin Lopez, Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi.
But France will pose a significant threat, especially with the advantage of the Games being played on home soil.
Eleven of Les Bleus 18-man squad play their football in France, and they will be hopeful of leading their nation to a first gold medal since the Los Angeles games back in 1984, and there are some real stars in Henry's squad.
Alexander Lacazette brings the experience as captain, Jean-Philippe Mateta is coming off the back of a fine season, and new Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise is arguably the best player involved in the entire competition.
Who could upset the odds?
Uzbekistan, led by Timur Kapadze, are one of three teams making their debut at the Olympics, alongside Ukraine and the Dominican Republic.
They qualified for the tournament after reaching the final of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup earlier this year, losing to Japan 1-0 in May.
However, they face a difficult task to reach the knockout stages in their maiden appearance at the tournament, having been placed in Group C alongside Spain and Egypt.
Japan, meanwhile, are competing at their 12th Olympics, a record only bettered by the United States (15), France (14) and Egypt (13) of this year's participating sides.
Having won all three of their group games at the Tokyo Games, Japan went close to equalling their best result in their home games, having previously claimed bronze in 1968.
They were beaten 3-1 by Mexico in their bronze medal match four years ago, and will be keen to earn a first top-two medal finish.
The USA are another side looking to restore some pride on the international stage following their group stage exit at the Copa America last month. Their best result came in 1904 when they won silver in St. Louis, with Marko Mitrovic the man tasked with delivering in Paris this time around.
No Paris return for Mbappe or Messi
While some of the world's brightest talent will descend on Paris this month, there are some huge omissions from the 16 nations taking part.
Kylian Mbappe is arguably the biggest of those.
Having failed to lead Les Bleus to European Championship glory, the former Paris Saint-Germain striker will not be able to make up for it in the city he called home for the past seven years.
Mbappe has completed his move to Real Madrid, signing a five-year deal with Los Blancos. The 36-time LaLiga champions said they would not release any of their squad to compete at the Games, although Mbappe said he was keen to play earlier this year.
Lionel Messi is another huge player who will not be present in Paris, having just led Argentina to a third-straight major tournament win.
Messi played five times for Lionel Scaloni's side at the Copa America, scoring once in their semi-final win over Canada.
The 37-year-old was forced off in the final against Colombia after picking up an ankle injury, but would not have featured anyway having alerted Mascherano of his desire not to feature.
Messi has won all there is to win as a professional footballer, including an Olympic gold he clinched at the 2008 Games.
And having become the youngest player to appear in a major international tournament final, Spain's Lamine Yamal will also not be competing at the Paris games.
Yamal starred for La Roja at Euro 2024, tallying five goal involvements in seven appearances in Germany.
The 17-year-old played 50 times for Barcelona last season and will miss the tournament in order to manage his workload ahead of the new La Liga season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
France - Jean-Philippe Mateta
All eyes will be on host nation France, with Henry's squad boasting a plethora of attacking talent heading into the games.
Les Bleus will be led by former Arsenal striker Lacazette, but attention will be focused on Crystal Palace striker Mateta, who enjoyed a rich vein of form in the Premier League.
Mateta scored 16 goals last term, having previously only scored seven times for the Eagles, including a run of nine goals in Palace's seven-game winning run under new head coach, Oliver Glasner.
His former Palace team-mate Olise, fresh from his £50million move to Bayern Munich, is also a part of Henry's plans, along with Lacazette's Lyon team-mate, Rayan Cherki.
Argentina - Julian Alvarez
Fresh from his Copa America success, Alvarez will be keen to add another international honour to his trophy cabinet.
Alvarez is one of three overage players picked by Mascherano alongside Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli.
The 24-year-old scored two goals in Argentina's 16th Copa success, netting 19 times in 54 appearances in all competitions for Pep Guardiola's side last term as they claimed a record fourth consecutive Premier League crown.
With his participation in the tournament, Alvarez will miss City's pre-season tour of the United States and their Community Shield fixture against rivals Manchester United.
Spain - Fermin Lopez
Along with Alex Baena, Fermin is one of two players from Spain's Euro 2024-winning squad heading to the Olympics.
Lopez played just 28 minutes for La Roja in their record-setting fourth success at the Euros, but he is guaranteed more game time in Paris.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough year, scoring eight goals for Barcelona in La Liga, which included a strike against Real Madrid in his second Classico appearance.
Lopez and Baena are looking to make history by becoming the first outfield players to win both the Euros and Olympic gold in the same summer.
Morocco - Achraf Hakimi
Despite failing to build on their World Cup 2022 semi-final run at the recent Africa Cup of Nations, PSG star Hakimi will be hopeful of guiding Morocco to gold.
Hakimi will lead the Atlas Lions out for their eighth appearance at the Games, having been given permission to miss his club's pre-season preparations.
The 25-year-old, who has made over 70 appearances for his nation, helped Luis Enrqiue's side to a domestic treble last term, recording nine goal contributions in 25 Ligue 1 outings.
Guinea - Naby Keita
Having endured a difficult season with injury at Werder Bremen, former Liverpool midfielder Keita will captain Guinea in their second appearance at the Olympics.
Keita made the switch from Anfield to Germany last year but made just five Bundesliga appearances, missing the final five games of the season after refusing to play their game against champions-elect, Bayer Leverkusen.
The 29-year-old has 56 appearances for Guinea across a seven-year international career, scoring 11 times.
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri has suggested that Lionel Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest footballer of all time.
The 28-year-old was recently awarded the 2024 Ballon d'Or as recognition for a period in which he won the Champions League in 2023 and Euro 2024 with Spain the next year.
Ex-Barcelona man Messi has won three of the last four Ballon d'Ors prior to Rodri, with the midfielder claiming that the latter is the greatest "without any doubt" during an interview on Spanish TV.
"Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt. Cristiano has managed to match Messi without innate talent. But those of us who have played against them can see the difference," said Rodri, speaking to El Hormiguero.
"We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there. But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch."
Ronaldo has scored a total of 928 goals in his career for club and country, winning 34 major trophies including five Champions League titles. He has also won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions.
Messi, meanwhile, has scored 877 goals, won the Champions League on four occasions and the Ballon d'Or five times, most recently in 2023.
Messi is now at Inter Miami, while Rodri is recovering from an ACL injury at Manchester City, although the two faced each other in LaLiga during the midfielder's spells at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid before his Premier League move.
"When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'," he added. "When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen."
Bompastor pleased with Chelsea's rotated side in 3-0 Champions League win over Celtic
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor was delighted with her side's 3-0 home victory over Celtic in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, which extended her 100% start and secured their place in the quarter-final.
Bompastor's side remain three points above Real Madrid at the top of Group B and can now no longer be caught by third-placed Twente.
"I told the players before the game tonight that it was an opportunity for us to qualify for the quarter-final, and we did that," she told the official club website after the game.
The result comes after a 2-0 victory over Manchester City in the WSL last weekend, which also has them top of that table with seven wins from seven.
"We also remain top of the table, which is also something we want to make sure we achieve. It's great news that we were able to rotate the squad and give opportunities to some players to play a Champions League game again.
"We could rest some players thinking about the Manchester United game [on Sunday]."
One of those players who got on the pitch as a result of that rotation was 17-year-old Lola Brown, who made her professional debut after coming off the bench in the 85th minute.
"It's a special week for her individually, but also for the club," Bompastor said. "I'm really pleased for her and the opportunity for her to come in, especially in a Champions League game.
"She's been training with us and I can see her talent, even if she is young. She's really dynamic as a player, really smart, and really good with the ball. She will progress and this experience tonight will bring her a lot of joy and a lot of confidence.
'As a manager, I worked a lot with the young players, especially when I was at the academy with Lyon, and it's also something special for me when I can give an opportunity to a young player to come in and show themselves. It's really good and shows the good job that the club is doing with young players.'
Aside from Brown, Bompastor made six changes to Chelsea's starting XI for the game and was pleased with the contribution of the players who came in.
"It's been my mindset from the beginning of the season. We play so many games and have to make sure everyone is involved. It's also the opportunity for me to show my trust in the players and the squad.
"It's important because it's not possible for a player to play 90 minutes every three days, especially with a lot of international players who play for their national team and club and travel all around the world. I think that's the way it has to be.'
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