The association football tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics were to be held from 22 July to 8 August 2020 in Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021. However, their official name remains 2020 Summer Olympics with the rescheduled 2021 dates have yet to be announced. In addition to the Olympic host city ofTokyo, matches will also be played in Kashima, Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, and Yokohama. Associations affiliated with FIFA may send teams to participate in the tournament. There are no age restrictions on women's teams, while men's teams are restricted to under-24 players with a maximum of three overage players allowed. The men's tournament is typically restricted to under-23 players, though following the postponement of the Olympics by a year, FIFA decided to maintain the restriction of players born on or after 1 January 1997. In June 2020, FIFA approved the use of the video assistant referee system at the Olympics. Brazil are the men's defending champions. Germany are the women's defending champions, but failed to qualify after losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Competition schedule
21 Wed
22 Thu
23 Fri
24 Sat
25 Sun
26 Mon
27 Tue
28 Wed
29 Thu
30 Fri
31 Sat
1 Sun
2 Mon
3 Tue
4 Wed
5 Thu
6 Fri
7 Sat
Men
G
G
G
¼
½
B
F
Women
G
G
G
¼
½
B
F
Venues
A total of seven venues will be used:
Qualification
The Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions ratified the distribution of spots at their meeting on 14 September 2017.
Men's qualification
In addition to host nation Japan, 15 men's national teams will qualify from six separate continental confederations.
Women's qualification
In addition to the host nation Japan, 11 women's national teams will qualify from six separate continental confederations. For the first time, as per an agreement between the four British football associations, Great Britain qualified for the Olympics through England's performance in the World Cup. Scotland also participated in the World Cup but, under the agreement whereby the highest ranked home nation is nominated to compete for the purposes of Olympic qualification, their performance was not taken into account.
Men's competition
The competition consists of two stages; a group stage followed by a knockout stage. The 16 teams will be drawn into four groups of four teams. The hosts Japan are automatically seeded into Pot 1 and assigned to position A1, while the remaining teams are seeded into their respective pots based on their results in the last five Olympics, with bonus points awarded to confederation champions. No group can contain more than one team from each confederation.
Women's competition
The competition consists of two stages; a group stage followed by a knockout stage. The 12 teams will be drawn into three groups of four teams. The hosts Japan are automatically seeded into Pot 1 and assigned to position E1, while the remaining teams are seeded into their respective pots based on their FIFA Women's World Rankings in March 2020. No group can contain more than one team from each confederation.
Final Draw
The draws for the Olympic football Tournaments took place on 8 April 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
