Opening day of men's Olympic soccer filled with wild outcomes

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies kick off on Friday, but the Games themselves are already in full swing.

The men's Olympic soccer tournament kicked off Wednesday, with all 16 participating teams playing their opening matches in venues across France.

Argentina and Morocco kicked things off from Saint-Etienne, playing out what appeared to be a volatile 2-2 draw in front of a raucous pro-Morocco crowd. When Argentina scored its equalizing goal 16 minutes into added time, Moroccan fans erupted.

Their anger was understandable — the game hadn't required that much extra time and it felt as if the referees were waiting for Argentina to score — but their means of expressing it were risky and violent. Projectiles rained down from the stands and forced the players to abandon the field.

When the teams returned hours later to play out the final few minutes in front of an empty stadium, the referee disallowed Argentina's controversial goal — more than two hours after it had been scored. The match finished 2-1 and Morocco claimed its first win of the tournament in the most puzzling of circumstances.

Morocco's surprise win was a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the Olympic field. Many expected the European and South American nations to dominate this tournament, but it was the teams from Asia who gave the best collective showing on Olympic soccer's opening day.

Uzbekistan pushed Spain, the European champions, to the limit, scoring a beautiful goal in the first half before narrowly losing 2-1. Iraq beat Ukraine 2-1 against the run of play, its defensive prowess saving it from a Ukrainian onslaught in the first half. And Japan destroyed Paraguay 5-0, looking every inch the medal challengers they may well become.

The day wrapped up with a headlining match between the United States and France. While France earned a 3-0 victory thanks to pitch-perfect shots from Alexandre Lacazette and Michael Olise, the USMNT never looked overawed and stayed in the game until the final minute.

This under-23 version of the USMNT looked endlessly more creative and competitive than the senior version that crashed out of the Copa America in the group stage. While the 3-0 loss will sting, the team knew that it was unlikely to beat France at home in any case, and will not be deterred by the scoreline. If it performs as well against Guinea and New Zealand as it did against France, it will cruise into the quarterfinals as a dark horse contender for a medal.

Olympic soccer continues on Thursday with the start of the women's tournament.