Kylian Mbappe wanted to attend this year's Olympics in his hometown while there were hopes Lionel Messi would feature for Argentina, but instead the men's soccer tournament at the Paris Games will be largely free from the attractions of the stars.

As France's captain and the most famous athlete in this year's Olympic host country, Mbappe's presence in coach Thierry Henry's Olympic squad would have been a huge boost for the organizers as well as the team's chances of winning the medal. gold, KosovaPress reports.

But Mbappe, 25, had to accept that his new club Real Madrid would not let him take part immediately after he played in the France side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany.

That's the problem for the men's soccer competition, which begins Wednesday and runs through Aug. 9.

Clubs are not obliged to release players for a tournament held outside FIFA's official window for international football, after the European Championship and the Copa America.

Messi, now 37 and part of Argentina's Olympic medal-winning team in Beijing in 2008, left himself out of Javier Mascherano's Paris 2024 squad shortly before the Copa America in the United States, which his country won.

"I spoke with Mascherano and we immediately agreed on the situation. At my age, I don't want to play everything and I have to make the right choices," Messi told ESPN.

Henry, a great legend of French football, also lost several other players he had hoped to call up.

"The last time I had so many rejections was when I was in high school," he joked as he announced a team in which the most famous names are Alexandre Lacazette, the 33-year-old Lyon striker and Bayern Munich's new signing , Michael Olise.

The competition is restricted to under-23 players, except for a maximum of three over-age players per team.

As well as the superstar names, the tournament is also missing Brazil, who won gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and retained the title in Tokyo three years ago, beating Spain in the final.

Argentina and Spain contenders

They failed to qualify, but Argentina should fancy their chances of securing a sixth consecutive Latin American men's soccer gold medal.

"Obviously our objective is to try to compete and go all the way, and I think we will have a team that can do that," coach Mascherano, who won as a player in 2004 and 2008, said in an interview for the South American confederation, CONMEBOL.

In Julian Alvarez, the Manchester City striker who won the 2022 World Cup and the last Copa America, they will have one of the highest profile players taking part.

Argentina are in Group B with Iraq, Ukraine and Morocco who have secured the services of Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi.

France open their campaign against the United States before also playing Guinea and New Zealand in Group A.

Winners in 1992 and silver medalists in Tokyo, Spain aim for gold after their triumph at Euro 2024.

Luis de la Fuente, coach of Spain's Euro-winning team, led the team to the final at the last Olympics. Now in charge is Santi Denia, his assistant three years ago.

Big names from the European Championship such as Lamine Yamal are not included, but another exciting young Barcelona talent will feature, 17-year-old centre-back Pau Cubarsi.

"He's really proud that he's getting the experience of the Olympic Games. You never know if you'll get another chance, even though you're so young," Denia told Marca about Cubarsi.

Spain are in Group C with Uzbekistan, the Dominican Republic and Egypt, who did not secure the services of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

Asian Under-23 champions Japan - who named a squad without senior players - are in Group D along with Paraguay, Mali and Israel.

The games won't just be played in Paris, with Nantes, Bordeaux, Nice and Saint-Etienne all hosting matches.

The semi-finals will take place in Lyon and Marseille, while the final will take place at the "Parc des Princes" in Paris.