Twelve teams are scheduled to compete in the women's football tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics. In addition to France, the host nation, 11 women's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations.
Table
editOn 24 February 2022, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In addition to the automatic qualification of the host nation France, each confederation was given two slots, with the exception of the OFC which was given one slot.[1]
| Means of qualification | Dates[a] | Venue(s)[a] | Berth(s) | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | — | — | 1 |  France
|
| 2022 CONCACAF W Championship | 4–18 July 2022 |  Mexico
|
1 |  United States
|
| 2022 Copa América Femenina | 8–30 July 2022 |  Colombia
|
2 |  Brazil Colombia
|
| CONCACAF play-off | 22–26 September 2023 |  Jamaica Canada
|
1 | Canada
|
| 2024 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 7–19 February 2024 |  Samoa
|
1 |  New Zealand
|
| 2024 UEFA Women's Nations League Finals | 23–28 February 2024 | Multiple | 2 |  Spain Germany
|
| 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 24–28 February 2024 | Multiple | 2 |  Australia Japan
|
| 2024 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 5–9 April 2024 | Multiple | 2 |  Nigeria Zambia
|
| Total | 12 |
- Notes
CONCACAF
editThe 2022 CONCACAF W Championship was used as the first round of Olympic qualification. The winners of the tournament qualified directly to the Olympic tournament, while the teams finishing second and third competed in a play-off for the other qualification place.[2]
Qualification round
edit| Group A | Group B | Group C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Source: CONCACAF
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group D | Group E | Group F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Final tournament
editGroup stage
edit| Group A | Group B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Source: CONCACAF
|
Knockout stage
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 14 July – San Nicolás de los Garza | ||||||
| United States | 3 | |||||
| 18 July – Guadalupe | ||||||
 Costa Rica | 0 | |||||
| United States | 1 | |||||
| 14 July – San Nicolás de los Garza | ||||||
| Canada | 0 | |||||
| Canada | 3 | |||||
| Jamaica | 0 | |||||
| Third place match | ||||||
| 18 July – Guadalupe | ||||||
| Costa Rica | 0 | |||||
| Jamaica (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||
Play-off
editThe play-off matches took place on 22 and 26 September 2023.[3]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica
|
1–4 | Canada
|
0–2 | 1–2 |
CONMEBOL
editThe finalists of the 2022 Copa América Femenina earned Olympic qualification places.[4]
Group stage
edit| Group A | Group B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Source: CONMEBOL
|
Knockout stage
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 25 July – Bucaramanga | ||||||
| Colombia | 1 | |||||
| 30 July – Bucaramanga | ||||||
 Argentina | 0 | |||||
| Colombia | 0 | |||||
| 26 July – Bucaramanga | ||||||
| Brazil | 1 | |||||
| Brazil | 2 | |||||
 Paraguay | 0 | |||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OFC
editEight teams entered qualification and were drawn into two groups of four. The winners and runners-up from each group advanced to the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches played to determine the Oceanian representative to the 2024 Summer Olympics. The tournament took place from 7–19 February 2024 in Samoa.[5][6]
Group round
edit| Group A | Group B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Source: OFC
|
|
Final round
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 16 February 2024 – Apia | ||||||
 Solomon Islands | 2 | |||||
| 19 February 2024 – Apia | ||||||
| Samoa | 0 | |||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||
| 16 February 2024 – Apia | ||||||
| New Zealand | 11 | |||||
| New Zealand | 7 | |||||
 Fiji | 1 | |||||
UEFA
editLeague A of the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League was used to determine the European nations for the Summer Olympics, with the top two eligible teams of the Finals (not including host France) qualifying for the Olympics.[7] This was a change in UEFA qualifying tournament from the previous Summer Olympics.[8]
Great Britain qualifying controversy
editAs the British Home Nations do not have individual Olympic Associations, all being represented by the British Olympic Association, England (as the highest-ranked Home Nation) was selected to attempt qualification on behalf of Great Britain. Accordingly, Scotland and Wales (both also in League A; Northern Ireland was in League B) could not qualify for the Games, even if they had reached the Nations League A Finals.[9][10]
England and Scotland were both drawn into Group A1, having to meet twice; at the time of the draw this was considered strange and a conflict of interest. Further controversy arose from this arrangement ahead of the final matchday, with the two playing against each other and qualification undecided.[11][10][8]
Due to previous results and the system of tiebreakers, the deciding factor between whether England (and thus Great Britain) or the Netherlands would continue in the tournament, presuming both won their final match, was how many goals they would score. With England having to defeat Scotland by as many goals as possible to qualify a Great Britain team to the Olympics, some outside spectators suggested that Scotland may throw the game as this would benefit them (and they were already set to finish last in the group regardless of result). Other commenters believed that the teams would play properly but that the British Home Nations should not have been put in such a position.[11][8][12][13] England won the final match against Scotland 6–0, and, at the end of the match, were in a position to advance to the Nations League A Finals; in added time in the other match, the Netherlands scored twice to go ahead of England on overall goal difference and advanced instead,[10][14] before coming last in the Finals and not qualifying for the Olympics.[15]
The issue was seen to be caused by the Nations League's system and lack of prestige: England and Scotland had also been in the same group during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which served as qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics (which Great Britain did achieve), with the draw and their performances not questioned due to having to play many other teams and because the World Cup is aspirational and Olympics qualification an afterthought in that situation.[8] The Nations League system had already been questioned as a means of qualifying when its use in ranking the play-offs for the men's Euro 2024 also presented a situation where a team had to lose to have a chance of qualifying (not involving the Home Nations).[12] Suzanne Wrack questioned if UEFA should prevent the Home Nations from being drawn into the same group in similar future situations, especially as it would be theoretically possible for a group of four teams to consist of all four Home Nations.[8] There was also some criticism due to England being the European champions and World Cup runners-up at the time, either of which could have automatically qualified Great Britain by previous qualifying metrics, and the situation would have been avoided.[16]
Andries Jonker, manager of the Netherlands, criticised the situation.[11][8] Players and staff from both teams considered suggestions of Scotland throwing the match to be rude and disrespectful; the teams have the oldest rivalry in football and it is a matter of national pride in both nations (though especially Scotland) when playing the other.[11][17][18][19]
Group round
edit| Group A1 | Group A2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group A3 | Group A4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Final round
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 23 February 2024 – Seville | ||||||
| Spain | 3 | |||||
| 28 February 2024 – Seville | ||||||
 Netherlands | 0 | |||||
| Spain | 2 | |||||
| 23 February 2024 – Décines-Charpieu | ||||||
| France | 0 | |||||
| France | 2 | |||||
| Germany | 1 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 28 February 2024 – Heerenveen | ||||||
| Netherlands | 0 | |||||
| Germany | 2 | |||||
AFC
editOf the 47 national federations in the AFC, 31 entered teams into the competition.
- First round – The top five teams based on the FIFA Women's World Rankings of 9 December 2022 – North Korea, Japan, Australia, China, and South Korea – were given byes to the second round. The remaining 26 teams were drawn into seven groups with the winners of each group advancing to the second round.[20]
- Second round – Twelve teams in the second round were drawn into three groups of four teams, with the winners of each group and the best-ranked runners-up advancing to the third round.[20]
- Third round – Four teams were placed into two home-and-away ties based upon the group with the best runner-up.[21] The winners of each tie advanced to the 2024 Summer Olympics.[20]
The following teams qualified for the second round:
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the position in the FIFA Women's World Ranking published on 24 March 2023.
Second round
edit| Group A | Group B | Group C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group runners-up | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: AFC
|
Third round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Uzbekistan 
|
0–13 | Australia
|
0–3 | 0–10 |
North Korea 
|
1–2 | Japan
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
CAF
editCAF qualification consisted of four rounds of home-and-away matches between July 2023 and April 2024 to determine the two teams which qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[23]
First round
editFirst round matches were held between 10–18 July 2023.
| 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament first round | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
Guinea-Bissau 
|
4–5 |  Benin
|
2–2 | 2–3 | |||||
Guinea 
|
0–7 |  Ghana
|
0–3 | 0–4 | |||||
Burkina Faso 
|
2–3 |  Mali
|
0–1 | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | |||||
Ivory Coast 
|
w/o[24] |  Sierra Leone
|
— | — | |||||
Namibia 
|
2–0 |  Equatorial Guinea
|
2–0 | 0–0 | |||||
Uganda 
|
4–3 |  Rwanda
|
3–3 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | |||||
Ethiopia 
|
10–0 |  Chad
|
6–0 | 4–0 | |||||
Congo 
|
w/o[25] |  Tanzania
|
— | — | |||||
Mozambique 
|
w/o[26] |  DR Congo
|
— | — | |||||
Second round
editSecond round matches were held between 23–31 October 2023.
| 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament second round | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Benin
|
0–5 | Ghana
|
0–3 | 0–2 | |||||
| Mali
|
w/o[27] | Zambia
|
— | — | |||||
| Ivory Coast
|
w/o[28] |  Tunisia
|
— | — | |||||
| Namibia
|
0–4 |  Morocco
|
0–2 | 0–2 | |||||
| Uganda
|
2–3 |  Cameroon
|
2–0 | 0–3 (a.e.t.) | |||||
| Ethiopia
|
1–5 | Nigeria
|
1–1 | 0–4 | |||||
| Tanzania
|
3–0 |  Botswana
|
2–0 | 1–0 | |||||
| DR Congo
|
1–3 |  South Africa
|
1–1 | 0–2 | |||||
Third round
editThird round matches were held between 23–28 February 2024.
| 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament third round | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Ghana
|
3–4 | Zambia
|
0–1 | 3–3 | |||||
| Tunisia
|
2–6 | Morocco
|
1–2 | 1–4 | |||||
| Cameroon
|
0–1 | Nigeria
|
0–0 | 0–1 | |||||
| Tanzania
|
0–4 | South Africa
|
0–3 | 0–1 | |||||
Fourth round
editFourth round matches were held between 5–9 April 2024.
| 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament fourth round | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Zambia
|
3–2 | Morocco
|
1–2 | 2–0 (a.e.t.) | |||||
| Nigeria
|
1–0 | South Africa
|
1–0 | 0–0 | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ North Korea had not played a match since March 2019 and were removed from the March 2023 rankings. FIFA Women's World Ranking Procedures, p. 4 "Teams that have not played at least one match during the last 48 months are deemed inactive and therefore not included in the ranking."
References
edit- ^ "Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024 – information on preliminary competitions" (PDF). FIFA Circular Letter. No. 1792. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ "CONCACAF to launch revamped W Championship and new W Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Canada to host crucial Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualifier in Toronto". Canada Soccer. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Ajuste en el reglamento de la CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina – Colombia 2022" [Adjustment in the regulations of the CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina – Colombia 2022] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ "Draw confirmed for women's Olympic football tournament – Oceania qualifier". Oceania Football. Oceania Football Confederation. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ "OFC Women's Olympic Qualifier 2024 Draw". YouTube. Oceania Football Confederation. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ "How will the new UEFA women's national team competition system work?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Wrack, Suzanne (2023-12-02). "Conflict of interest hangs over England's showdown with Scotland". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ "How do you qualify for women's football in the Olympics?". Team GB. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "England rout of Scotland not enough for Great Britain Olympic women's soccer hopes". NBC Sports. 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b c d "England, Scotland and the 'strange' dilemma of Olympics qualification". The Independent. 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ a b "Lose and qualify? Why Great Britain's road to 2024 Olympics might go through Scotland". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ Tomas, Fiona (4 December 2023). "To play in the Olympics, Scotland players must lose to England – that's a farce". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "El 'biscotto' británico que acabó en fracaso total". www.sport.es (in Spanish). 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ "Germany win Nations League play-off to reach Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ Garry, Tom (2023-12-06). "Where Lionesses' Olympic qualification campaign went wrong – and one silver lining". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
- ^ "Ridiculous to suggest Scotland will be happy to lose - Bronze". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ "Scotland will not 'give away' game for GB Olympic spot". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ Garry, Tom (2023-12-04). "Scotland dismiss suggestions they could throw England game". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ a b c "Stage set for Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 Asian Qualifiers Round 1 draw". the-afc.com. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ "Women's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024™ Asian Qualifiers - Round 2 Draw" (video). Asian Football Confederation. 18 May 2023. Event occurs at 9:00. Retrieved 2 November 2023 – via Youtube.
- ^ "AFC Competition Operations Manual (Edition 2023)" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "CAF® Women's Football Calendar 2023 – 2024" (PDF). CAF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Préparation JO Paris 2024 : Les Éléphantes Pour Deux Matchs Amicaux En Algérie". Facebook. Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- ^ "Les Diables rouges dames ne participeront plus aux éliminatoires des Jeux Olympiques de Paris 2024". Instagram. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Paris 2024 Olympics African Women qualifiers get underway". cafonline.com. CAF. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Dube, Godfrey (7 October 2023). "Shepolopolo through to 3rd round of Women's Olympic Qualifiers after Mali pulls out". News Diggers!. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ "Communiqué" [Press release] (in French). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.