At the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Brazil and Canada emerged as the gold medal winners in the men’s and women’s football tournaments, respectively. As we look forward to Paris 2024, here’s what you need to know about the football events.
The football schedule at the Paris 2024 Olympics will run from 24 July to 10 August. The tournament will use seven different stadia, with Nice, St Etienne, and Bordeaux among the venues for group stage and quarter-final matches. Semi-finals will take place in Lyon and Marseille, with the bronze medal match in Nantes and the final at Paris’ iconic Parc des Princes.
As one of the most popular sports in the world, football is set to return for its 29th Olympic appearance for men and eighth for women at Paris 2024. The basic rules for this Olympic sport are essentially the same as regular football, with two teams of 11 players competing in 90-minute matches. Group stage matches may end in a draw, but knockout games will go to extra time and penalties if needed.
For men’s competition, there will be a total of sixteen teams divided into four groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals while only three players per squad can be over twenty-three years old for each team that competes. On the other hand, for women’s competition, twelve teams will be divided into three groups with only two teams from each group advancing along with two best third placed teams. There are no age restrictions for female teams playing at these Olympics.
In terms of past performance on global stages, Hungary holds an impressive record of winning three gold medals out of their five total medals earned throughout Olympic history.
The USA has won eight medals overall including four golds which remains their most successful nation yet.
Great Britain has won three gold medals but faced challenges fielding teams due to lack of support from Scottish Welsh Northern Irish football associations.
Finally, England’s women team missed out on qualifying after finishing second in their Nations League group.
All eyes are on who could come out victorious at these upcoming Games!
