Football at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Once again 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams took part, with a total of 58 matches being played (32 men, 26 women). No countries made their football début in men’s event in 2020, although there were three newcomers in the women’s tournament: Chile, Netherlands and Zambia. The defending champion Germany failed to qualify for Tokyo. Despite being ranked No.2 in the FIFA Women’s World rankings, they missed out on a place in Tokyo after they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, a qualifying tournament for the Olympics.

Apart from hosts Japan, the only other countries with teams contesting both the men’s and women’s tournament were Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. In the men’s tournament, South Korea were appearing in their ninth consecutive Olympics whilst Brazil, the 2016 champions, were appearing for the 14th time. Tokyo 2020 was the seventh edition of the women’s tournament and Brazil, Sweden and the United States were all competing for the seventh time. The USA women were chasing their fifth gold medal, while the other 11 countries were all looking for their first gold. Sweden and the USA met in their opening group game, and it gave the Americans a chance to make amends for their defeat by their European counterparts in the quarter-final at Rio four years earlier, but this time Sweden won easily.

There was an increase in the upper age limit for male players from 23 to 24. Players had to be born on or after 1 January 1997, although each country was still allowed three over-age players. There was still no age limit on female players. VAR (Video Assistant Referee) was used for the first time at the Olympics. Three substitutes per team per match were again allowed, with an additional replacement being permitted if a game went to extra-time. For Tokyo 2020, there was a break from the tradition of each country naming 18 players and four alternatives. Instead, they were allowed to name 22 players, with any 18 being available for individual matches. The nominated players could be changed before the start of each game.

Seven stadiums were used with the Yokohoma International Stadium being the largest, with a 70,000 capacity. The Sapporo Dome was the furthest away from Tokyo at approximately 830 kilometres. The other cities, apart from Tokyo, to stage matches were Chōfu, Saitama, Kashima, and Rifu.

Spain and Brazil both reached their third men’s final and each was looking for their second gold medal. It was Brazil who won back-to-back finals in a thrilling match that went to extra time, winning 2-1. The bronze medal was won by the 2012 champions Mexico.

The Premier League player Richarlison of Brazil was the men’s leading scorer with five goals, while Vivianne Miedema of the Netherlands scored a record 10 goals in the women’s tournament. With the all-time women’s Olympic scorer in their team, Netherlands looked like heading for a medal until beaten by the USA. The USA were in turn knocked out by Canada who went on to meet a star-studded Swedish team in the final, but it was the North American underdogs who won their first title with a 3-2 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw. The USA won the bronze medal match 4-3 against Australia.