At the Paris 2024 Olympic football tournaments, there are a total of 28 men’s and women’s national teams competing from across the globe.
Olympics football qualification is often not straightforward, and works differently to major competitions such as the European Championships or World Cup.
In this article, we’ll run through the men’s and women’s sides from across the globe taking part in this year’s games, and how they got there.
Olympics football qualification 2024 – the roads to Paris
Men’s qualifying
2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
The first teams to qualify for this summer’s games did so two years ago, at CONCACAF’s U-20 Championship in 2022.
Held in Honduras,the two finalists secured a spot at the men’s Olympic football tournament. The United States were winners, and Dominican Republic were runners-up.
2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Last summer’s European Under-21 Championships, held in Romania, were won by England.
But as England are not technically a competing nation under the IOC’s rules, their one of the three allocated spots for the men’s Olympic football tournament was passed onto the other three sides that made the semi-finals: Israel, Spain and Ukraine.
2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations
Also last summer, CAF held the U-23 African Cup of Nations, with the top three ranking sides each receiving a place at this summer’s games.
Hosts Morocco won on home soil, beating Egypt in the final. Mali came third, picking up the final place.
2023 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The Oceanic Football Association holds a qualifying tournament purely to decide which of their members takes their sole place at the Olympic men’s football tournament.
New Zealand defended their prized spot as their continent’s Olympic representative, making it five wins in their last six tournaments.
2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament
CONMEBOL also hold their own mini-tournament to determine which two nations represent their rich footballing continent at the games.
After an initial two group stages, the top two from each group form a final group. Paraguay and Argentina topped the group, and will represent South America at the tournament.
2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Held just a few months ago in Qatar, the AFC U-23 Asian Cup has Olympic men’s football tournament spots for the top three performing nations.
Japan won the tournament, with Uzbekistan and Iraq making up the rest of the podium.
AFC–CAF play-off
The final spot at the tournament is determined by a playoff between the fourth-placed nations at the U-23 Asian Cup and the U-23 AFCON.
In this case, it was a 1-0 win for Guinea over Indonesia.
Women’s qualifying
2022 CONCACAF W Championship
The winners of the CONCACAF W Championship get an automatic spot at the women’s Olympic football tournament.
The United States won a ninth title, securing their place at the games once again.
2022 Copa América Femenina
The two finalists of the Copa América Femenina also get spots at the tournament.
Colombia defeated Brazil in the final two years ago, but the Samba stars will also be travelling to Paris.
CONCACAF play-off
Instead of giving their second place automatically to the runners-up, CONCACAF has a two-legged playoff between second and third to determine their other spot.
Jamaica were defeated by Canada 4-1 on aggregate.
2024 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Like their male counterparts, New Zealand dominated their OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Football Ferns scored a staggering 18 goals in their two matches against Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
2024 UEFA Women's Nations League Finals
Rather than using a championship as the basis of giving out their two qualifying spots, UEFA use their relatively novel Nations League to decide it.
The Netherlands, France, Spain and Germany competed, but the latter two came out on top, qualifying for the women’s Olympic football tournament.
2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The AFC’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament whittles down a whopping 31 nations to just two to determine who qualifies for the Olympics.
Australia and Japan saw off Uzbekistan and North Korea to secure their places at the tournament.
2024 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Even more impressively, the CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament boils down 36 teams to two.
Zambia and Nigeria won their final games against Morocco and South Africa to make it to the Olympics.
FAQ
Why aren’t Team GB at the 2024 Olympics?
With the exception of competing at the 2012 London Olympics as hosts, Team GB have not entered an Olympic men’s football tournament since the 1970s.
This is because the other constituent nations of Team GB besides England, worried that their continued participation in tournaments as a single British entity would threaten their status as independent nations in the eyes of FIFA and UEFA.
Team GB's women’s side are able to qualify for the games, with the four FAs coming to an arrangement.
The agreement between the home nations sees the highest-ranking women's team between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland try to claim one of the three European spots available that would be handed to Team GB.
England were the highest ranked side, but they did not perform well enough in the Nations League to grab a spot.
Who has won the most Olympic football trophies?
The two nations with the most Olympic gold medals in the men’s tournament are Hungary and Great Britain, with three each.
The United States have dominated the women’s tournament, with four gold medals.
Where is the 2024 Olympic football final being played?
Both the men’s and women’s finals will be played at the Parc des Princes in Paris, on the 9th and 10th August respectively.
Who is the best Olympic football player in 2024?
The best men’s player at the Olympics is new Bayern Munich signing, Michael Olise. The Frenchman averaged a goal or assist every 80 minutes for Crystal Palace last season.
The best women’s player at the Olympics is of course Aitana Bonmati, who won the Ballon d’Or after her amazing performances for Spain at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
