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The 2024 Summer Olympics are drawing closer, as Paris gets set to host the competition from late July to early August. Football is always a significant event, with a condensed tournament for both men’s and women’s teams drawing viewers from around the globe.
As per Olympic regulations, the men’s tournament will feature a predominantly youth squad, limited to players under 23 years old (born on or after January 1, 2001) plus three designated over-age players. There is no age restriction on the women’s squads.
Thanks to the European Championships and the Copa America taking place just weeks earlier, convincing superstars from either Europe or South America to participate in the Olympics as an overage player can be difficult, as the physical strain from such a congested fixture list is extreme, and those full international competitions are usually prioritised.
France will see both their men’s and women’s sides participate, given automatic qualification as hosts, while the United States, Spain, and New Zealand were the only nations to have qualified competitively for both competitions.
MORE: When do the 2024 Paris Olympics begin?
The Sporting News brings you a full roundup of the draw, which takes place on March 20 at 3 p.m. ET, setting the matchups for the summer tournament to come. The draw is available to watch live on FIFA’s official streaming service FIFA+ for free.
Sixteen teams will contest the 2024 Olympic men’s tournament in Paris, of which 12 participants are currently known at the time of the draw.
Three of the final four participants still to be decided will earn their place at the U-23 Asian Cup which takes place from April 15 to May 3.
The final participant will be determined in a playoff that pits the fourth place finisher at the Asian Cup against Guinea, who finished fourth in the U-23 Africa Cup of nations. A date has not been determined for this match.
Notable absentees include Brazil, who did not reach the Olympics for the first time since 2000, finishing third in the table amidst the four-team final stage. Also missing are Mexico, who lost to Guatemala in their qualifying tournament on a penalty shootout, while European giants Portugal, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Belgium all fell well short in a disappointing qualification push.
Twelve nations will contest the women’s 2024 Summer Olympics football tournament in Paris. Alongside the host nation, all confederations were allotted two places in the competition, with the exception of Oceania which received one.
The final confederation to name its participants was Africa, whose qualifying took place in early April, seeing Zambia and Nigeria qualify over Morocco and South Africa.
The most notable absentee is England, who are ranked second in the world by FIFA and made the World Cup final last summer, but did not qualify for the Olympics. The Lionesses finished second in their UEFA Nations League group, narrowly behind Netherlands by just a single goal on differential, meaning they did not even reach the final stage to have a shot at reaching the Olympics.
Featuring 16 teams, the men’s side of the bracket features a group stage with four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the eight-team knockout round.
The full match schedule and group standings for men’s football the 2024 Summer Olympics were crafted at the draw on Wednesday, March 30.
The to-be-determined teams from Asia are listed below as “AFC #1,” “AFC #2,” and “AFC #3” as the eventual qualifiers will be placed into the draw based on a ranking system using their results at the last five Olympics. The qualifiers will be determined in the U-23 Asian Cup which finishes in early May.
Group A standings
Group A fixtures
Group B standings
Group B fixtures
Group C standings
Group C fixtures
Group D standings
Group D fixtures
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place
Final
Featuring 12 teams, the women’s side of the bracket features a group stage with three groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group qualifying automatically for the eight-team knockout round. Additionally, the two third-place finishers with the most points will advance, using the same tiebreaking methods as the regular group standings.
The full match schedule and group standings for women’s football the 2024 Summer Olympics were crafted at the draw on Wednesday, March 30.
Defending gold medal winners Canada were drawn into Group A alongside hosts France, while the United States were pooled with European powers Germany as well as the Matildas of Australia. Group C is a tough one as well with World Cup winners Spain who are matched up against Japan and Brazil.
Group A standings
Group A fixtures
Group B standings
Group B fixtures
Group C standings
Group C fixtures
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place
Final
Kyle Bonn is a soccer content producer for The Sporting News.
