You might be forgiven for thinking this summer’s helping of international tournaments is over but you would be wrong, as two Manchester City players well know.
Euro 2024 and Copa America may have reached their gripping conclusions but now it’s time for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games which means there’s another festival of football to get stuck into.
While the rest of the Manchester City squad is either in America for the pre-season tour or still on their holidays, Julian Alvarez is gearing up to compete in the Olympics.
The striker has already had a busy summer after helping Argentina retain the Copa America trophy by scoring twice in five games, including the semi-final.
With hardly any time to rest between the two tournaments, Alvarez has been selected as one of the senior players to represent his country in Paris by manager Javier Mascherano.
Should Argentina reach the final on August 10 then Alvarez will miss the Community Shield against Manchester United and almost certainly the opening game of the season against Chelsea the following weekend.
Even if they are knocked out earlier, Alvarez may be given some time off before returning to Pep Guardiola’s squad.
The 24-year-old is joined in the squad by former City defender Nicolas Otamendi and exciting prospect Claudio Echeverri, who is still on loan at River Plate until December after the Blues signed him in January.
Here’s all you need to know about how the Olympic football tournament works and how you can tune in to watch Alvarez and Echeverri in action.
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
Paris 2024 Olympics football rules
Olympic football operates differently from typical international tournaments as it sits in the space between major competitions and youth tournaments to satisfy the amateur spirit of the games.
Each nation must pick an 18-player squad primarily of under-23s but that can include up to three players over the age bracket.
Alvarez at 24 is one of the three senior players alongside Otamendi, 36, and former City goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, 32.
The tournament is made up of 16 teams which will compete in an initial group stage before narrowing down to a final eight for the knockout stages. The games will played in stadiums across France.
Full Argentina Olympics football squad
| Squad No. | Player | Position | Team |
| 1 | Geronimo Rulli | Goalkeeper | Villarreal |
| 12 | Leandro Brey | Goalkeeper | Boca Juniors |
| 2 | Marco Di Cesare | Defender | Racing Club |
| 3 | Julio Soler | Defender | Lanus |
| 4 | Joaquin Garcia | Defender | Velez Sarsfield |
| 13 | Gonzalo Lujan | Defender | San Lorenzo |
| 16 | Nicolas Otamendi | Defender | Benfica |
| 6 | Bruno Amione | Defender | Santos Laguna |
| 5 | Ezequiel Fernandez | Midfielder | Boca Juniors |
| 14 | Santiago Hezze | Midfielder | Olympiacos |
| 8 | Cristian Medina | Midfielder | Boca Juniors |
| 7 | Kevin Zenon | Midfielder | Boca Juniors |
| 17 | Giuliano Simeone | Forward | Atletico Madrid |
| 15 | Luciano Gondou | Forward | Argentinos Juniors |
| 10 | Thiago Almada | Forward | Atlanta United |
| 11 | Claudio Echeverri | Forward | River Plate (on loan from Manchester City) |
| 9 | Julian Alvarez | Forward | Manchester City |
| 18 | Lucas Beltran | Forward | Fiorentina |
Argentina Olympics football schedule
Argentina have been drawn in Group B for the Olympics and will take on Morocco, Iraq and Ukraine.
The top two teams will qualifier for the knockout stages where they will aim to make the Paris final and compete for the gold medal.
Argentina’s group-stage schedule is as follows:
| Match | Date and time | Location |
| Argentina vs Morocco | Wed, July 24, 2 pm | Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, Saint-Etienne |
| Argentina vs Iraq | Sat, July 27, 2 pm | Lyon Stadium, Lyon |
| Ukraine vs Argentina | Tue, July 30, 4 pm | Lyon Stadium, Lyon |
How to watch football at the Paris 2024 Olympics
There are two ways to watch Olympic football in the UK.
TV channel
The BBC will be broadcasting all sporting events at the Olympics live on BBC One and BBC Two, which will include some of the football games.
However, due to another network, Warner BrothersDiscovery, owning the European TV rights to the games, the BBC can only broadcast the two most exciting or important events happening live at any one time.
As a result, some specific sports that aren’t the main story of the day won’t be televised, especially if medals aren’t on the line, which might mean few football games are broadcast on the BBC.
However, premium channel Eurosport will be broadcasting every sport but a subscription is required.
Live stream
BBC One and Two can be streamed on BBC iPlayer while there will also be an Olympics Extra live stream which will curate the top moments.
A valid BBC account is required along with a TV licence to access the content live on a smartphone or computer device.
All Olympic events, including Argentina’s fixtures, will be live-streamed on Discovery +, which costs £3.99 a month until the end of 2024.
