Football, Women

Exactly one year after the World Championship in Australia and New Zealand, it came as no surprise that the then semi-finalists Spain, England, Sweden, and Australia were among the favorites for the Paris Olympic Games. Particularly Spain, with Golden Ball and Silver Ball winners Aitana Bonmatí and Jennifer Hermoso, were the heavy favorites for gold. But the predictions were foiled early when Sweden and England (representing GBR) did not even qualify. Both teams missed the knockout-phase of the UEFA Women’s Nations League A, which served as the qualifier for the two European spots. Spain underlined their favorite status by winning the final against the Games hosts, France. In Paris, with the next highly rated team Australia in group B, they went home after only one hard-fought victory against underdogs Zambia. The USA and Germany both advanced to the next round, after a convincing 4-1 victory for the United States in the group match between those teams.

In group A, a veritable scandal overshadowed the results achieved on the pitch. Tokyo gold medalist Canada was penalized by FIFA, who deducted six points from them in their group table. Their coaching staff was involved in drone spying on opponents at an official training venue. Additionally, the Canadian Soccer Association was fined 200.000 CHF, and the coach responsible, Bev Priestman, together with two members of her staff, were suspended and banned from official football activities for one year. After winning all their three group matches, Canada still managed to qualify for the knockout stage.

Group C saw a strong Spanish team winning the group, ahead of Japan, and Brazil, who qualified only as one of the best third-placed teams with just one narrow win over Nigeria. In the group match against Spain, Brazil lost their country’s record-breaking goalscorer Marta, following a foul that brought her a red card and a two-match ban in her sixth and last Olympic Games.

In the quarter-finals, Brazil was the only team that managed to win in regular time, eliminating France by a single goal from Gabi Portilho just eight minutes from the final whistle. The USA defeated Japan 1-0 in extra-time, after a goal by Trinity Rodman, one of the team’s stars of a new generation and daughter of former basketball star Dennis Rodman. Spain needed a penalty shootout to beat Colombia. Colombia took a 2-0 lead, but late goals by the World champions from Jennifer Hermoso and Irene Paredes saved Spain, and took them into extra-time and, eventually, the shootout. After a goalless draw between Canada and Germany, the European team’s second choice goalie Ann-Katrin Berger became the heroine of the match. After saving two penalties in the shootout, she converted the last one herself.

The semi-finals produced two matches that were replays of the group stage. Brazil, still without Marta, turned the tables on Spain. In a surprisingly one-sided semi-final, Brazil clearly defeated the Spanish World champions 4-2, after leading 3-0 until the 85th minute. The second semi-final paired the USA and Germany for a second time. Although Germany had to replace two of their best players, they were on a par with the favorites, although the USA had better chances to score. Sophia Smith eventually scored the winning goal in the 95th minute, in extra time.

With only one goal scored, the result of the bronze medal match did not reflect on the dramatic script of the match. Germany took the lead by a penalty scored by Giulia Gwinn. In the ninth and last minute of extra-time, and with just seconds to go, Canada was awarded a controversial penalty. Keeper Berger remained calm and saved the shot. She secured the bronze medal for the German team and their iconic coach Horst Hrubesch, who was European and World champion runner-up as a player, and coach to Germany’s Olympic silver-medal winning team at Rio 2016. World champions Canada went home without a medal, just like the other top teams from the 2023 World Championship.

The Brazil-USA final repeated those of 2004 and 2008, and with the USA as pre-game favorites, having won all five matches in the tournament, compared to only three wins by Brazil. Moreover, Brazil never had won a final at one of the world-wide tournaments. For Brazil’s Marta, who returned to the squad after her ban, it was to be her last match at the Olympic Games and was her third final. But the US side could count on six women who had been members of the winning team at the 2019 World Championships.

Watched by 44.000 spectators, the women’s final kicked off at 5 pm, on the 10 August 2024 and, for the first time in Olympic history, was one day later than the men’s final. Brazil, starting without their “eternal heroine” Marta, put pressure on from the start. In the 15th minute, Ludmila smashed the ball into the American net. But the goal did not count, because the Brazilian was slightly offside. The US girls needed a while to get into the game, but then it became an exciting match, with plenty of goal-scoring opportunities on both sides. The golden scorer for the USA was the fast winger Mallory Pugh-Swanson, who coolly slotted home the only goal in the 57th minute. A few minutes later, Marta came on but, with time running out, Brazil’s efforts became more and more desperate and, eventually, remained unsuccessful. Brazil had to settle for Olympic silver for the third time and the US girls secured their fifth gold. With Germany winning bronze, the podiums of Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 were replicated in Paris 2024.

Two of the three top scorers in the tournament, France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto (5 goals) and Zambia’s Barbra Banda (4), did not advance to the semi-finals. From the medalists, only America’s Mallory Pugh-Swanson also scored four goals. The total number of goals was considerably lower than in Tokyo, although the number of matches had not changed. In Paris, only 76 goals were scored, compared to 101 in Tokyo. The average per match decreased from 3.9 to 2.9 per match, indicating a smaller quality gap between the teams. Results with high margins, like 10-3 or 8-2, were not recorded in Paris. Even the highest scoring match being Australia’s 6-5 win over Zambia was decided by just one goal.