What to know before the rugby U.S. men take the pitch in Paris

Tournament Basics

68 total matches between July 24-30 with no matches on July 26 (Opening Ceremony)
12 teams will compete
Three pools of four teams
Top two teams in each pool advance as well as the next two overall finishers
Teams that don’t advance will play for 9th-12th place
Each team will play 5 or 6 matches
A match can end in a tie in pool play

First match will be July 24 at 10:30 a.m. ET on Peacock
Will face Fiji on July 24 at 2:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and USA
Finish pool play against Uruguay on July 25 at 9 a.m. ET on Peacock and USA
Perry Baker announced he will retire after the Games
Kevon Williams will serve as the captain
Madison Hughes returns after scoring 32 points in Tokyo (third most among all players); Hughes stepped away from rugby after the 2020 Games but rejoined before the 2023-24 SVNS Series season.
The 2024 Games mark the 100th anniversary of the U.S. winning gold in 1924, when rugby was played under 15s format
The men finished sixth in Tokyo after losing the quarterfinals to Great Britain

Nine of the 12 teams competing in Paris are returning from Tokyo
Samoa and Uruguay are making their Olympic debut
After not qualifying for Tokyo, France is expected to contend for the gold medal
Argentina won the 2023-24 World Rugby SVNS Series regular season title
Fiji will look to defend its back-to-back gold medals