Emma Hayes cooking something special with the USWNT: Winners and losers of the women's Olympic group stage

There's no sugar-coating it: Canada Soccer is in crisis. After a drone was spotted flying over New Zealand's training session before the first round of Olympic fixtures, two Canada staff members were home, head coach Bev Priestman was banned by FIFA for a year and the women's team was deducted six points - though, remarkably, it still progressed out of the group stage after winning all three matches.

However, the crisis is deeper than that short-term fallout. Other instances of drones have since come out, including one concerning the men's team's appearance at Copa America earlier this year, a tournament which it reached the semi-finals of. Reporting by TSN has suggested more cases too, including one at the Olympics in Japan three years ago which ended with Canada winning a gold medal.

This story will not go away quietly. Canada Soccer has started its own internal review and the findings of that will be highly anticipated across the sport, as further digging takes place to determine the extent of something that federation CEO Kevin Blue admitted "could be systemic". Were other coaches involved? How long has this gone on for? Did the players know? The assertion from Blue on that latter point was that they didn't, that those on the pitch whose efforts have amazingly secured a quarter-final spot did not engage in any "unethical" behavior. If that is indeed the case, then they have been let down incredibly.

Through the opening few months of 2023, Mallory Swanson was absolutely flying. After starting the year with seven goals in the USWNT's first five games, she had asserted herself as a game-changer, someone who then-head coach Vlatko Andonovski had to consider as a starter ahead of the Women's World Cup - and then came the bad luck.

In a friendly in April 2023, she was stretchered off with a knee injury that would require two surgeries. Swanson has given gruesome detail on the problem, though her friendlier description of it being "literally the worst thing ever" probably still suffices in outlining how tough it was.

To see the 26-year-old soaring at the Olympics is a great comeback story, then. There is big competition in the U.S. frontline, but Swanson has proven that she absolutely belongs in Emma Hayes' best XI, with her one of the absolute stars of the Olympic tournament so far.

Yes, Australia came into this tournament without the talismanic presence of Sam Kerr, its star striker having suffered a devastating ACL injury back in January. Still, so much more was expected of the Matildas than what was produced to ultimately end in a group stage exit.

After all, Kerr was sidelined throughout last summer's home World Cup and Tony Gustavsson's side managed an historic run to the semi-finals there. The crowd certainly helped, but the removal of that should not have resulted in what we saw in France this past week.

Having come to terms with how to play without Kerr, Australia seemed to somehow unlearn that and reverted to looking lost. At the other end, the defending was absolutely woeful, with 10 goals conceded in just three games.

Head coach Gustavsson has delivered some remarkable moments during his time in charge of the Matildas. The run to the semi-finals of the Olympics in 2021 was a huge highlight, one surpassed last summer as the World Cup co-host went further than ever in a tournament that will have a lasting impact on the Australian women's game. That his tenure ends on this low, with his contract expiring at the end of the tournament, is a real shame then, given the progress this team has made in the last few years.

Few would've disagreed that Aitana Bonmati was the front-runner for the Ballon d'Or coming into the Olympics, and she only strengthened her case to retain the prestigious accolade in the group stage. After helping Barcelona to win an historic quadruple, its first on the women's side, the 26-year-old has showcased the quality of her all-round game at Paris 2024, her contributions in attack and defence helping Spain maintain its place as the team to beat.

That was particularly evident in the opening game against Japan, an opponent La Roja lost 4-0 to just 12 months ago. Bonmati scored Spain's equaliser, showing wonderful composure to cap a nice team move, and also won possession back a remarkable 15 times in the same game, some seven times more than any other player.

The midfielder is one of a number of world-class talents capable of changing a game in an instant for the world champion and the more she shows that, the more it increases the chance of both team and individual silverware.

On an individual basis, Barbra Banda has an incredible Olympic record, scoring 10 goals in six matches despite playing for a Zambia team that has never sat higher than 64th in the FIFA world rankings. Her performances at this year's tournament have been superb, with her bagging a third hat-trick in just five appearances in the 11-goal thriller with Australia. That she has never been on the winning side at the Games, then, has to be frustrating.

That was evident in that ridiculous 6-5 result, Banda unable to hide her dismay when the Matildas got their fourth of the day in an eventually dramatic comeback, thanks to another defensive error. It is a lack of quality in those areas that holds Zambia back from being the force that its star-studded attack - which also includes Racheal Kundananji, the most expensive women's footballer of all time - suggests it could be.

It must be a bit of a helpless feeling for Banda, who could, once again, hardly do more - but this is a team game, after all.

Twelve months ago, the U.S. attack faltered dramatically as the back-to-back defending world champion lost in the last 16 of the World Cup, its worst-ever performance at the tournament. Despite a new head coach, in Hayes; despite some different faces, with the returning Swanson and the exciting Jaedyn Shaw added to stars such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman; and despite there being positives in the time that has passed since that nightmare Down Under, ahead of this Olympics, concerns remained that it may fail to live up to expectations.

However, the sub-par displays in the final third that preceded the Games, a 1-0 win over Mexico and a goalless draw with Costa Rica, have become a distant memory after 3-0 and 4-1 thrashings of Zambia and Germany, respectively, followed by a 2-1 win over Australia. None of those opponents have particularly air-tight defenses, sure, but the confidence flowing through that USWNT frontline will certainly help when it comes to more resolute challenges.

If there was one thing that Hayes needed to do to ensure a successful first tournament in charge of this team, it was maximizing the attack. She's certainly achieved that thus far, giving the U.S. a real shot of a medal.

Most neutrals watching this tournament wanted one thing and one thing only, and that is for Marta, the greatest player in women's soccer history, to stand on top of the podium on August 10 with a gold medal around her neck. The 38-year-old is playing her final tournament for Brazil and is pursuing a first major international trophy in it, having amassed a disappointingly large collection of runners-up medals over the last 22 years.

However, after starting the tournament with some delightful performances, Marta ended the group stage in tears on Wednesday when she was shown a straight red card. She couldn't, and didn't, argue with the decision after her high boot caught Spain's Olga Carmona. However, that didn't stop her leaving the pitch absolutely distraught in what could genuinely be her final game for Brazil.

Though a decision has not been announced on how many matches she will be suspended for, the Selecao will definitely be without its captain for a huge quarter-final with France. Can it get through that challenge and keep the dream of sending Marta off with a gold medal alive? It's going to be a tough ask.

Over the last five years, Marie-Antoinette Katoto has had her fair share of bad luck when it comes to major tournaments. In 2019, when France hosted the World Cup, she was controversially not-selected by then-head coach Corinne Diacre, despite being the domestic league's top-scorer that season.

Three years later, off the back of another superb campaign, she was ready to take the European Championships by storm. But, after scoring in the first game, suffered a brutal knee injury in France's second match. That blow was so severe that it also kept Katoto out of the World Cup a whole 12 months later.

Finally, then, she is getting her chance to show the world what she can do at this Olympics. Katoto, who became Paris Saint-Germain's all-time top-scorer at 23 years old, was the most prolific forward in the group stage, netting five times in three games. That it is all coming on home soil feels like some sort of full circle moment too, given the events of five years ago.

There was a lot of excitement about Jaedyn Shaw coming into this Olympics. After all, the 19-year-old won the Golden Ball when the U.S. won the CONCACAF W Gold Cup earlier this year and she seems to just be going from strength to strength in a senior international career that is still not even 12 months old.

It's a real shame, then, that Shaw hasn't been able to set foot on the pitch yet at the Games. A leg injury ruled her out of the opener with Zambia and it has kept her on the sidelines since, with matches against Germany and Australia passing her by.

This is one of the most talented teenagers in the world, someone many expected to compete fiercely for a starting role in one of the most exciting frontlines at the Olympics. Let's hope Shaw gets to show why the hype is so great in the knockout stages.