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Football at the 2024 Summer Olympics: Format for men and women’s tournaments & teams involved

There are plenty of exciting international football tournaments to look forward to in 2024.

At the beginning of the year, there will be the AFC Asian Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations, while the summer will see Euro 2024 and Copa America roll around.

However, there is also the small matter of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Two separate football tournaments will take place, one for men’s and one for women’s football, with gold medals up for grabs for the best nation.

Here is everything you need to know about football at next summer’s Olympics.

Hosted in French capital Paris next summer, the 2024 Olympic Games will take place over a two-and a-half week period between 26 July and 11 August.

Despite not starting officially until 26 July, football at the Olympics will kick off on 24 July for the men’s and 25 July for the women’s tournament.

The final of the men’s tournament will take place on 9 August, while the women’s final will occur on 10 August.

While Paris will host the Olympics next summer, football will be played in seven different stadiums across France.

Parc des Princes, the home of Paris Saint-Germain, will stage several matches, but stadiums in Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Nice and Saint-Etienne will also be used.

Stadium

City

Parc des Princes

Paris

Stade Velodrome

Marseille

Parc Olympique Lyonnais

Lyon

Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Stade de la Beaujoire

Nantes

Allianz Riviera

Nice

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Saint-Etienne

The men’s football tournament at the 2024 Olympics will be made up of 16 teams, initially divided into four groups of four teams. Each side will play one another before the top two progress automatically to the quarter-final.

What will follow is the semi-final, the bronze medal match contested between the losers of each semi-final and the final – where gold and silver are up for grabs.

Unlike the European Championship or the World Cup, for men’s football at the Olympics each nation must build a squad comprised of players 23 or under. However, each country is allowed to include three players over the age of 23 in their squad.

In the women’s football tournament, the group stage will involve 12 sides – three groups of four teams. Each team will face one another before the winners and runners-up of each group, as well as the two highest-ranking third-placed teams, progress to the knockout rounds.

There will then be the same format as the men’s tournament, with four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, one third-placed bronze medal match and then the final.

Unlike the men’s tournament, there are no age restrictions, meaning each country’s squad will simply be comprised of the best players the nation has to offer.

The men’s tournament is made up of 16 teams from six different confederations, with different qualifying paths per confederation.

From UEFA, hosts France will be there, while Ukraine, Spain and Israel will also take part after making the semi-finals of the Under-21 Euros last summer. Great Britain will not take part in the tournament.

From CAF, it will be Morocco, Egypt and Mali after their performances at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations, while the two sides to have qualified from North America’s CONCACAF via their participation in the Under-20 Championship are the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Oceania’s OFC representative will be New Zealand, while there are six teams yet to qualify for the Olympics.

Three nations will come from the Asian Football Confederation, perhaps a fourth depending on the outcome of the CAF vs AFC play-off, while the other two will be South American teams from CONMEBOL.

Qualified teams for men’s football at the 2024 Summer Olympics so far

Team

Federation

France (hosts)

UEFA

Israel

UEFA

Spain

UEFA

Ukraine

UEFA

Egypt

CAF

Mali

CAF

Morocco

CAF

Dominican Republic

CONCACAF

United States

CONCACAF

New Zealand

OFC

TBC

CONMEBOL

TBC

CONMEBOL

TBC

AFC

TBC

AFC

TBC

AFC

TBC

AFC or CAF

There are just 12 teams taking part in the women’s tournament at the 2024 Olympics, with only five sides having qualified at present.

From UEFA, hosts France will obviously be there, while the other two nations will be decided based on the outcome of the 2024 Nations League finals. Great Britain missed out on the Olympics, with France to be joined by two of the Netherlands, Spain or Germany.

The two CONMEBOL sides will be Brazil and Colombia as the finalists of the 2022 Copa America, while the two CONCACAF nations will be Canada and the United States.

There will be one country from the OFC, two from CAF and two from the AFC, but they are yet to be decided.

Qualified teams for men’s football at the 2024 Summer Olympics so far

Team

Confederation

France (hosts)

UEFA

Brazil

CONMEBOL

Colombia

CONMEBOL

Canada

CONCACAF

United States

CONCACAF

TBC

UEFA

TBC

UEFA

TBC

AFC

TBC

AFC

TBC

CAF

TBC

CAF

TBC

OFC

Richarlison De Andrade, Daniel AlvesRicharlison De Andrade, Daniel Alves

Brazil won men’s gold in 2020 / Quality Sport Images/GettyImages

Football has been played at every Olympics since 1896 and, while not as prestigious as a lot of continental major tournaments, it has thrown up a myriad of winners over the years.

Great Britain are the joint record winners with three gold medals, tied with Hungary. However, Great Britain hasn’t claimed gold since 1912 and that will not change in 2024 given their absence from next summer’s games.

Unsurprisingly, the likes of Brazil (2), Argentina (2), France (1) and Italy (1) have all won gold medals in the past, but some surprise victors are Nigeria (1), Cameroon (1) and Canada (1).

All past 2024 Summer Olympics men’s gold medallists

Team

Gold medals

Great Britain

3 (1900, 1908, 1912)

Hungary

3 (1952, 1964, 1968)

Argentina

2 (2004, 2008)

Brazil

2 (2016, 2020)

Soviet Union

2 (1956, 1988)

Uruguay

2 (1924, 1928)

Belgium

1 (1920)

Cameroon

1 (2000)

Canada

1 (1904)

Czechoslovakia

1 (1980)

East Germany

1 (1976)

France

1 (1984)

Italy

1 (1936)

Mexico

1 (2012)

Nigeria

1 (1996)

Poland

1 (1972)

Spain

1 (1992)

Sweden

1 (1948)

Yugoslavia

1 (1960)

Women’s football is a newer addition to the Olympic Games but still dates back to 1996. There have been seven tournaments in the past, with the United States dominating the share of gold medals in the past.

Only four different nations have won gold – United States (4), Canada (1), Germany (1) and Norway (1).

All past 2024 Summer Olympics women’s gold medallists

Team

Gold medals

United States

4 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012)

Canada

1 (2020)

Germany

1 (2016)

Norway

1 (2000)

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