U.S. women to open with New Zealand, France and Colombia in Rio Games

The U.S. women’s team was drawn into a four-team group that includes New Zealand, France and Colombia for this summer’s Olympic soccer tournament. The Americans, winners of the last three Olympic tournaments, will open play against New Zealand on Aug. 3 in Belo Horizonte. They will play France three days later in the same city before closing group play against Colombia on Aug. 9.

That final game of group play is scheduled for Manaus, in the Amazon, a site many players considered problematic because of the Zika virus which has spread throughout Brazil.

Germany and host Brazil head the other two groups in the 12-team competition. Brazil will face China, Sweden and South Africa in pool play while Germany will meet Canada, Australia and Zimbabwe. The first two teams in each group, plus the top two third-place finishers, will advance to the quarterfinals.

Japan, which lost to the U.S. in both the 2012 Olympic final and in last summer’s World Cup title game, did not qualify for this summer’s Games.

In the 16-team men’s tournament, defending champion Mexico was drawn into a group that includes Fiji, South Korea and Germany. Mexico plays Germany in its opener Aug. 4 in El Salvador. The U.S. did not qualify.

The U.S. women are bidding to become the first team to win a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal in successive years.