The USMNT U23 side square off against New Zealand in a crucial Group A match at the Olympics on Saturday.
WATCH USMNT v NEW ZEALAND LIVE
After the U.S. lost their Paris 2024 Olympic opener 3-0 to host France, they face New Zealand knowing they pretty much have to win to have strong hopes of advancing. Marko Mitrovic’s side hung in there well against France in Marseille but two moments of real quality undid them as Lacazette and Olise scored stunners in the second half. Even though there is little room for error now, there was enough promise to suggest the USMNT could win their final two group games against New Zealand and Guinea to advance to the quarterfinals.
As for New Zealand, they battled to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Guinea in their opener in Nice with Plymouth Argyle’s Ben Waine scoring the winner with less than 15 minutes to go. New Zealand are solid and have some good experience in their ranks with center back Michael Boxall a familiar name for American soccer fans as he played in college at UC Santa Barbara and has spent the majority of his club career in Major League Soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps and Minnesota United.
How to watch USMNT vs New Zealand live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 1pm ET, Saturday (July 27)
Location: Marseille
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Watch via Peacock
USMNT focus, team news
The first game showed us that the USMNT’s U23 side can withstand serious pressure and they were also very dangerous on the counter. This game will be much different and the U.S. youngsters will have more of the ball and try to get Tanner Tessmann, Djordje Mihailovic and Gianluca Busio creating and pouring forward to support their talented attackers. Mitrovic knows this is pretty much must-win but a draw isn’t the end of the world for the USMNT U23s.
New Zealand focus, team news
The expectations were pretty low for New Zealand coming into this tournament but a win in their opening game has given them real belief they can get out of the group. New Zealand will play for a draw and look to hit the ball up to Waine to hold up it up and his battle with Zimmerman and Robinson should be epic.
USMNT vs New Zealand prediction
It feels like the USMNT U23s are set for a big win. They were pretty decent against the tournament favorites France and they have real quality in the final third and midfield. If the USMNT score early that will settle them down and they should dominate the ball. USMNT 3-1 New Zealand.
