Arsenal Women at the Olympics

Arsenal Women will have seven players competing in the women’s soccer tournament at the Olympic Games this summer, with the tournament getting under way later today. Emily Fox (USA), Cloe Lacasse (Canada), Mariona Caldentey and Laia Codina (Spain) and Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross (Australia) will all be in action for their countries in France.

Catley and Foord both missed Australia’s recent warm-up fixture against Canada due to muscle tightness but both have been passed fit for the opening game of the tournament, with Matildas captain Catley saying, ‘I’m good to go. I had a little bit of a setback, which was frustrating after I’d been working hard, training hard, had a nice break and was ready to get back into it. But it was just a minor setback, so I’m definitely ready to be out there.’

Meanwhile, Caitlin Foord said she missed the Canada game as a precaution, ‘I’ll be fine. If it was an Olympic game [against Canada], I would have played. But there was just no reason to really take any risks this close to the opening game. So we decided to call it and just get it right.’

💬 “It's still to this day, after however many years, one of the most special things to be a part of in my life."

Heading to the Olympics for the third time, @stephcatley talks about the honour of being an Olympian.
#Matildas #TilitsDone #Paris2024 #AllezAUS pic.twitter.com/BrHqxmGyEb

— Matildas (@TheMatildas) July 22, 2024

Cloe Lacasse will represent Canada who have been rocked by a pre-tournament scandal when two members of their staff, an analyst and the assistant manager, are alleged to have flown a drone over the training pitch of their matchday 1 opponents New Zealand. The two members of staff alleged to have committed this offence have been sent home, while Head Coach Bev Priestmann has agreed to not coach their game against New Zealand to preserve the integrity of the game. Canada are the reigning gold medalists.

Emily Fox will play for the US in their first tournament under new coach Emma Hayes, the US won the gold medal at three consecutive games in 2004, 2008 and 2012 but did not medal in 2016 and won bronze in 2021. After a disappointing World Cup campaign, the US are looking to reassume their primacy in women’s international football.

Laia Codina and new signing Mariona Caldentey will compete for current world champions Spain in their first ever Olympic women’s soccer tournament. Obviously, none of the aforementioned players will take part in Arsenal’s pre-season camp in Washington DC, where they will play Washington Spirit on August 18, followed by a friendly against Chelsea on August 25. All players should be back training when Arsenal play against Glasgow Rangers in their first Champions League qualifier at Boreham Wood on September 4.

The full group stage of the Olympics for the Arsenal players is below (BST). In the UK, selected games are available on the BBC iPlayer but to see all of the games, you will require a £6.99 subscription to Discovery Plus.

AUSTRALIA

25 July v Germany, 6pm (Marseilles)
28 July v Zambia, 6pm (Nice)
31 July v USA, 6pm (Marseilles)

CANADA

25 July v New Zealand, 4pm (St. Ettienne)
28 July v France, 8pm (St. Ettienne)
31 July v Colombia, 8pm (Nice)

USA

25 July v Zambia, 8pm (Nice)
28 July v Germany, 8pm (Marseilles)
31 July v Australia, 6pm (Marseilles)

SPAIN

25 July v Japan, 4pm (Nantes)
28 July v Nigeria, 6pm (Nantes)
31 July v Brazil, 4pm (Bordeaux)