Lionel Messi has scored in his long-awaited and nearly canceled Olympic debut, inspiring Argentina to a 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast.
Stuart Holden ended the United States' three-game scoring drought with a goal in the second half, giving the Americans a 1-0 victory over Japan on Thursday in the Olympic opener for both.
Italy got first-half goals from forwards Sebastian Giovinco and Giuseppe Rossi, and Robert Acquafresca added another in the second as Italy beat Honduras 3-0 in its opening Olympic soccer match.
Slobodan Rajkovic scored with a header off a corner kick as Serbia rallied to tie Australia 1-1 in an opening round soccer match at the Beijing Olympics.
Hernanes scored a late goal and Brazil began its quest for a first Olympic gold in soccer with a 1-0 win over Belgium in Group C play.
The Olympic football tournament is in danger of being undermined by a court ruling that allows clubs to keep players out of the Beijing Games, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Thursday.
Norway jumped on the United States from the opening whistle, getting two goals in the first four minutes Wednesday to beat the U.S. women's soccer team 2-0 at the Beijing Olympics.
North Korea beat Nigeria 1-0 in women's soccer Wednesday, getting a 27-minute goal from Kim Kyong Hwa on the opening day of Olympic competition.
China celebrated the start of competition at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday by beating Sweden 2-1 in women's soccer.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista says Lionel Messi wants to play for the country's Olympic football team.
Three European soccer clubs Wednesday won their appeal to keep their players out of the Olympic soccer tournament.
Canada wore down Argentina to win its Olympic debut 2-1 Wednesday, getting a goal in each half and using a significant size advantage to subdue the South Americans.
Olympic title contenders Brazil and Germany tied 0-0 in the Group F opener in women's soccer at the Beijing Games.
Midfielders Aya Miyama and Homare Sawa scored second-half goals to rally Japan to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in their opening match of the women's soccer competition.
Nyon, Switzerland (Sports Network) - The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Rankings for the month of August were released on Wednesday, and they saw top-ranked Spain open up a sizable advantage on the rest of the field.
A federal judge has temporarily shut down a Web site that Olympic officials say is defrauding patrons by falsely advertising tickets to the games in Beijing.
Lack of motivation will not be a problem for Ronaldinho at the Beijing Olympics.
If you support or play for a team not named Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, then the chances of your club finishing in the top four of the English Premier League are not good.
Unlike tennis, which is sending its best players to Beijing to compete for a gold medal that is not the sport's ultimate prize, soccer does it right by treating the Olympics like a Junior World Cup. Teams are made up of players ages 23 or younger, with three discretionary spots left open for overage players.
SOCCER ROUNDUP
A festive atmosphere and a standing-room-only crowd of more than 2,000 fans saw Miami FC play to a 1-1 draw against the Haitian national team Saturday at the Little Haiti Soccer Complex.
