USA vs. France Olympics Group Stage: How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Preview and More

Welcome to your live thread for today's United States Women' s National Team group stage match against France. This is the second Olympic group stage match for both teams, with both squads tied atop Group G with three points each. France currently holds the goal differential tie breaker.

The Americans looked very good on Wednesday night in a 2-0 victory over New Zealand to open up the tournament, but France is certainly a step up in competition. The two main scoring threats for the U.S., Carli Lloyd and the Orlando Pride’s Alex Morgan, both were on target last time out and will be expected to carry the load offensively again.

While Lloyd and Morgan may get the credit for scoring the goals, wingers Tobin Heath and Mallory Pugh are the two players who are tasked with setting up chances for Morgan and Lloyd. Heath is a national team stalwart who picked up an assist against New Zealand and is known to serve up a dangerous free kick when gifted the chance. While quiet for much of her Olympic debut, the 18-year-old Pugh has proven this year that she can help set up others as well as score herself. The future UCLA Bruin has three goals this year for the Red, White & Blue.

The U.S. back line enjoyed a rather relaxed opening match and was very rarely tested. That is sure to change against a French side with offensive threats like Eugenie Le Sommer, Louisa Necib and Elodie Thomis. Center backs Julie Johnston and Becky Sauerbrunn are sure to have their hands full with Thomis, who wreaked havoc against the U.S. during a match back in March. Keeper Hope Solo and the defense have collected four straight clean sheets and six overall in the last seven matches.

A win against France would put the U.S. in prime position to top the group and keep the Americans in great shape to defend its gold medal finish from four years ago. However, France is never an easy team for the Yanks to play and this will be a highly competitive match.

How to Watch:

Match Time: 4 p.m. ET

Venue: Mineirao Stadium — Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

TV: NBCSN, NBC Universo

Live Stream: nbcsports.com

Twitter: For rapid reactions and live updates, follow @StarsStripesFC or @ussoccer_wnt.

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