France had wanted to showcase the best players it could for the male team's first appearance at the Olympic Games since 1996. France U21 head coach Sylvain Ripoll, who is in charge of the men's Olympic team, dreamed of bringing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Eduardo Camavinga, Houssem Aouar and Amine Gouiri to Japan this summer.
Instead, with Europe's top clubs refusing to let their best players go after Euro 2020 and before the new season starts in less than a month, Ripoll's squad was built at the last minute.