France's women's football team launch their bid on Thursday for a first Olympic title against Colombia in Lyon.
The hosts will also take on reigning Olympic champions Canada and New Zealand in the pool stages as boss Hervé Renard attempts to lead the team to its first piece of siliverware at a major international competition.
"The objective, like that of every French athlete at the Olympic Games, is to win a medal," said Renard on the eve of the clash.
"It won't be easy, but it has to be the aim," added the 55-year-old Frenchman who will depart after the Olympic Games.
Veteran defender Wendie Renard (no relation to the coach) will skipper the squad at her third Olympic Games.
“I have to perform individually, that's always been my principle and my values," said Renard.
Challenge
"I want to perform first and then contribute my experience. At some point, you have to be able to say things, encourage and congratulate, but there will always be things to correct.”
World champions Spain take on Japan, Nigeria and Brazil in Group C while the United States - the most successful team in the women's compeition - face Zambia, Austria and Germany in Group B.
The US won the inaugural women's Olympic football event in 1996 and claimed three in a row in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
But they exited in the quarter-finals in 2016 and had to settle for bronze three years ago in Tokyo after losing to Canada in the semis.
Goal
That was followed by a shock last-16 exit at the World Cup a year ago in Australia and New Zealand. It was a failure that hastened the departure of coach Vlatko Andonovski.
The Americans come to Paris under the leadership of the British former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes.
The 47-year-old raised eyebrows when she omitted Alex Morgan, one of the leading players in the sides that won the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
"It was a tough decision of course," said Hayes of the move to discard the 35-year-old striker. "Especially considering Alex's history and record with this team but I felt I wanted to go in another direction and selected other players."
The top two from the three groups advance to the last eight along with the two best third-placed sides.
Games will be played around France, with the semi-finals in Lyon and Marseille. However, the gold-medal match will be in Paris on 10 August.
Chaos
On Wednesday night in Marseille, France's men began their tilt for a second title with a 3-0 victory over the United States.
Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring on the hour mark and eight minutes later set up Michael Olise to double the advantage.
Defender Loic Badé added the gloss in the closing stages. France will also take on Guinea and New Zealand in Group A.
Elsewhere in the opening round of games in the men's tournament, in Group B Morocco shocked Argentina 2-1 in a tie that took nearly four hours to complete at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne,
Cristian Medina thought he had salvaged a 2-2 draw for Argentina when he scored in second-half stoppage-time. The strike prompted a pitch invasion and forced the referee to take the players off the field.
Play was halted while the stadium was emptied and when the teams returned to the pitch nearly two hours later, the goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referees.
"We spent about an hour and a half in the dressing room where they never told us what was going to happen,” Argentina boss Javier Mascherano complained after the game.
“The Moroccan captains didn’t want to play, we didn’t want to continue, and fans threw things at us. It’s the biggest circus I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t think the game should be played for three minutes after an hour and a half.”
In the rugby sevens, France will continue their push for a place in the last eight with a final pool match against Fiji.
On Wednesday, France launched their campaign with a 12-12 draw against the United States. It was followed by a 19-12 victory over Uruguay.
