How Football Will Work at the 2024 Paris Olympics

The Olympics are the biggest sporting event in the world. Taking place every four years, it brings together communities and people from different areas of life. It showcases why sport is so powerful and can be used to create change within society, and the eyes of the world will be on Paris this summer.

Football is not seen as the ‘main event’ at the Olympics. Athletics, cycling and swimming all have prominence, but football is still highly regarded within the sports community. They have specific rules about who can compete, but, if players get there, they want to win it. Here is a breakdown of the rules and qualifying for the tournament ahead of the competition beginning.

Qualified teams

Sixteen nations around the world set to compete

Sixteen teams compete during the men’s competition at the Olympics. As mentioned later, apart from the hosts (in 2024, France), no team was guaranteed spot in the tournament, unlike other sports where hundreds of athletes potentially compete. It creates a unique scenario where some of the biggest footballing countries in the world won’t qualify for the tournament, despite having a plethora of talented players.

Highlighted above are all 16 nations who will be represented at the 2024 Olympics. Argentina and Spain will both be hoping to add to their trophy collections in 2024, having won the Copa America and European Championship already this year respectively. The former can call upon Julian Alvarez, one of the best players in the competition, while La Roja will be hoping that Pau Cubarsi and Alex Baena can come up trumps.

Qualification

Seven tournaments used to determine participants

Qualification for the Olympic football tournament is done via each region. There are seven tournaments across the world to decide the 15 places alongside the hosts. For 2024, these are:

At each tournament, the best-placed teams at each event qualified. At the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the two semi-final winners qualified, which were the United States and Dominican Republic. At the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the three teams who were eligible qualified – Spain, Ukraine and Israel. England won the tournament, but because there was no agreement between England, Scotland and Wales to compete under the United Kingdom, they did not take a place.

Meanwhile, at the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, the two finalists and third-placed team qualified – Morocco, Egypt and Mali. New Zealand qualified via the OFC tournament after beating Fiji 9-0, while at the 2024 CONMEBOL pre-Olympic Tournament, the top two placed teams, Argentina and Paraguay, also both qualified. Japan qualified by winning the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, while runners-up Uzbekistan and third-placed Iraq also secured their spot at the Olympics by securing podium finishes in that tournament.

Why Team GB Won’t be Competing

Neither male or female teams will be at the tournament

Team GB will not feature in the men’s tournament at Paris 2024. The last time they competed was at London 2012, but that was an exception because they were hosting the competition. Unlike the World Cup and Euros, the Olympics are run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The separate nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are registered together in the Olympics. They were previously registered, even winning gold in 1900, 1908 and 1912, but they have failed to come to an agreement at the Olympics abroad. The last tournament they featured at before London 2012 was in 1960. It is unlikely an agreement will happen anytime soon, despite England and Scotland both competing at Euro 2024, with the former losing the final to Spain.

On the other hand, Team GB’s hopes of competing in the women’s football event were ended after coming second in their Women’s Nations League group, which doubled as a qualifying competition for the event. With the four winners of each group in League A, advancing to next year’s finals tournament and the two overall finalists qualifying for Paris 2024.

Maximum Age of Players

Three players of 23 allowed

The maximum age of players competing in the men’s tournament is 23. This has been the case since 1992, but – since 1996 – a maximum of three players over the age of 23 has been allowed. This provided experience within each squad and prevented the risk of feeling the pressure on the biggest stage.

Famously, during the London 2012 Olympics, Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards were selected as the United Kingdom’s over-age players, although they still crashed out of the competition early on. However, due to the unusual format of the competition, countries that are historically impressive at football have struggled in the Olympics. This is partially due to the maximum age of 23.

Format and Groups

Traditional group stage and knockouts in store for fans

The format at the Olympic Games is far more simple than the qualification stage. Four groups are created with four teams in each group, with the top two of each group advancing to the next round. You can see which teams have been grouped together below.

As they progress, the winners of each group will face the runner-up of the group next to them. For example, the winner of Group A will face the runner-up in Group B, whilst the winner in Group B will face the runner-up in Group A. This is replicated for Group C and D. They face one team in the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals, before the Olympic champions are decided in the final. The table below outlines the system used.

Matches consist of two halves of 45 minutes each, as is always the case in professional football. Since 2004 in the knockout rounds, if the match is tied after 90 minutes, two 15-minute halves of extra time are played (extra time is skipped in favour of immediate penalty kicks in the bronze medal match if it is played on the same day in the same stadium as the gold medal match). If the score remains tied, penalty kicks, which are five rounds – and then sudden death, are used to determine the winner.

Schedule and Venues

Games to begin on July 24

The schedule for the men’s tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games in France will take place over the course of 16 days. It’s a quick turnaround, but it will still clash with the start of the 2024/2025 professional season, particularly in England. Every matchday will take place on the same day, albeit at different times of the day. Therefore, fans will be able to watch every single match of the tournament over the course of just seven days in total. It’s a dream for football fans.

However, these matches are spread around the country. France isn’t too difficult to get around, but players might have to play one match in northern Paris before travelling down to Nice on the Mediterranean coast. Meanwhile, later on in the tournament, the final will take place in Paris, whilst the bronze medal match will take place in Nantes for the men’s tournament. The semi-finals will be in Lyon and Marseille with each city hosting two semi-finals each – one women’s and one men’s. As highlighted below, there are seven venues in total.

Previous Winners

United Kingdom and Hungary tied for most victories

Last, but not least, several countries have become Olympic champions over the years. In total, 19 nations have won the tournament since it was first introduced in 1896. Hungary and the United Kingdom have both won it the most times (three), whilst Brazil have won it twice, recently in 2016 and 2020. In 2016, they overcame the nightmares of losing to Germany in the 2014 World Cup to beat them on penalties. The South American giants will be aiming to win it for the third tournament in a row if they can qualify. Below, we have outlined the past ten winners of the competition, stretching from 2020 to 1984.

The Olympic Games bring the best out of sport every four years. As athletes from around the world descend on Paris, the French capital, in the summer of 2024, they will be hoping to bring back the gold medals, but also show the sportsmanship that the Olympics is all about. The football teams will be no different through the group stages to the final.