Why are names like Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe not taking part in the Olympics

The footballing action continues after the Euro and Copa America as 16 teams including Argentina, France and Spain will now vie for a podium finish in the upcoming Paris Olympics.

However, most of the big names who have played the Euro and Copa will not be taking part in the Olympics due to the impending football seasons in countries like England, Spain and France among others.

But there are still enough big names in the Olympics to make it a thrilling affair. The 16 teams have been divided into 4 groups with hosts France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand in Group A, Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine in Group B, Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic in Group C and Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel in group D.

Now let’s check out the big names who will take part in the Games this time around and the names who won’t be gracing the Olympics with their presence:

Top 5 footballers taking part in the Olympics

Alexandre Lacazette (France): The former Arsenal man Lacazette will be leading the frontline for France at the Olympics in a team jam packed with talent in Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise and Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta and coached by the legendary Thierry Henry.

Julian Alvarez (Argentina): Alcarez, who just won the Copa America with Argentina earlier this month will go for another accolade as he looks to become one of the first male players to win the World Cup first and then the Olympics in that order. He will be joined by Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli and Thiago Almada who are also vying for the same honour

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco): The 25-year-old Hakimi is the most recognized face in a Morocco lineup and is one of the main architects of the African nation’s fairytale run in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they reached the semifinal for the first time in history, defeating the likes of Spain and Portugal.

Naby Keita (Guinea): The former Liverpool man Keita will be captaining the Guinea side which is drawn in the same group as France, USA and New Zealand. While they might get a result against New Zealand, France and USA are filled with exciting talents who will be tough for them to deal with.

Fermin Lopez (Spain): The 21-year-old Lopez is a recent Euro 2024 winner with Spain, playing just 28 minutes in the whole competition so that keeps him relatively fresh heading into the Olympics. He will be joined by Alex Baena who also won the Euro this year with Spain.

Top 5 footballers not taking part in the Olympics

Lionel Messi (Argentina): A huge name missing from Argentina’s Olympic squad will be Messi who had already informed coach Javier Mascherano that he wouldn’t be able to take part in the Olympics after a gruelling Copa America campaign. It would also keep him away from his club Inter Miami which is already playing without him in the ongoing season.

Kylian Mbappe (France): Mbappe recently lost out on his chance to win the Euro for the first time and was unveiled as a Real Madrid player earlier in the week. Los Blancos had already made it clear that they weren’t going to allow any of their players to participate in the Olympics due to the impending season which rules Mbappe out from taking part in the Olympics hosted by his own country.

Lamine Yamal (Spain): 17-year-old Yamal who lit up the Euro in Germany this year will also not participate in the Olympics in order to manage his workload. With the new La Liga season looming over the horizon, Yamal, who played 50 times for Barcelona last season and started in all 7 of Spain’s matches in the Euro, opted to skip this event.

Mohamed Salah (Egypt): According to reports, even though Egypt Olympic team Rugero Micali wanted Salah in the team, the Liverpool legend opted to join up with his club for pre-season duties in the USA.

Kubo Takefusa (Japan): Kubo, who was once signed for Real Madrid,, spending most of his 5-year there on loans to various clubs, before permanently moving to Real Sociedad, will also not take part in the Olympics due to his parent club refusing to release him for the event. The clubs can do that because the Olympics are outside of FIFA’s scheduled international match windows.

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