Football, also known as soccer, at the Olympics. For gridiron football, see American football at the Summer Olympics. For the Australian rules football demonstration, see Australian football at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Football at the Summer Olympics has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA World Cup tournament). Women's football was added to the official program at the 1996 Atlanta Games.[1]
Football at the Summer OlympicsGoverning bodyFIFAEvents2 (men: 1; women: 1)Games
So as to avoid competition with the World Cup, FIFA have restricted participation of elite players in the men's tournament in various ways. Currently squads for the men's tournament are required to be composed of players under 23 years of age, with three permitted exceptions.
Men's tournament
Women's tournament
Overall medal table
See also
Notes
References
External links
In addition to the Olympic host city of Tokyo, matches were also played in Kashima, Saitama, Sapporo, Rifu and Yokohama.[2]
Associations affiliated with FIFA may send teams to participate in the tournament. There were no age restrictions on women's teams, while men's teams were restricted to under-24 players (born on or after 1 January 1997) with a maximum of three overage players allowed.[3] 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.[4] In June 2020, FIFA approved the use of the video assistant referee (VAR) system at the Olympics.[5] Teams were restricted to 18 athletes, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rosters were allowed to consist of up to 22 athletes.[6]
Brazil was the men's defending champions. Germany won the previous women's tournament, but failed to qualify after losing to Sweden in the quarter-finals of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Football
Football (Americans call it soccer) is possibly the world's most popular team sport. It's also Special Olympics' most popular sport. This page draws together football-related information for all of Special Olympics, including news, stories, calendar events and competition results.
World's Most Popular Sport
Football (Americans call it soccer) is possibly the world's most popular team sport. It's also Special Olympics' most popular sport. This page draws together football-related information for all of Special Olympics, including news, stories, calendar events and competition results.