Can USMNT learn from its U-23 Olympic soccer success?

For casual followers of the USMNT, this success may come as something of a surprise. How, after all, could the team that crashed out of the Copa America group stages a few weeks ago turn itself around and outperform expectations at the Olympics?

The answer is in the players. The U. S. Olympic soccer team isn't the same USMNT that crashed out of the Copa. It's mostly an under-23 squad of up-and-comers, all of whom missed the Copa cut altogether. And that makes its success even sweeter.

The Olympic men's soccer tournament is designed to highlight young players: The 16 participating nations are only allowed to bring three players each over 23. 

So there's is a temptation to look at Olympic results as harbingers of a nation's soccer future for that reason, but to do so is unwise. These Olympic U-23 athletes aren't necessarily the future of their national teams. When young players show enough promise, they skip U-23 competition altogether and move straight into senior national squads. 

Spain's Lamine Yamal is a great example of this. He played for the victorious Spanish senior squad at the Euros this summer at age 16, and accordingly, he's absent from Spain's U-23 lineup at the Olympics.

This promising U. S. Olympic squad isn't a sign of what's to come for the USMNT. Instead, it's a sign of what it could be right now. 

The American Olympic stars have been hovering just outside of the USMNT lineup for years and could serve as plug-and-play replacements for their underperforming peers. 

After his success in goal at this tournament, Patrick Schulte could replace USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner with ease. It's also interesting to think about what Olympic attacker Djordje Mihailovic could do sitting behind Folarin Balogun in the senior USMNT attack.

With the senior USMNT in search of a new coach, there's never been a better time for experimentation and risk-taking within the squad. Giving senior opportunities to some of these Olympic players — many of whom play in Major League Soccer and can promote the league with increased visibility a USMNT spot brings — could do wonders for the team's trajectory in advance of the 2026 World Cup. 

Schulte and Mihailovic are the obvious promotion candidates, but Kevin Paredes, John Tolkin and Gianluca Busio could also be interesting options.

The U. S. Olympic soccer team continues its journey Friday against Morocco in the quarterfinals in Paris.

If the U. S. wins, it will advance to the final four and be guaranteed a medal game. Not bad for a group of USMNT "castoffs."