Football at 2024 Olympic Games: Dates, schedule, format and teams involved in Paris plus when gold medals will be won
Following on from Euro 2024 and Copa America, top-level international football will continue at the Paris Olympics this week.
Some of the best footballers from around the world will be in France looking to achieve a lifetime goal of winning an Olympic gold medal.
Four years ago in Tokyo, Barcelona legend Dani Alves led Brazil to glory in the men’s event while Canada came out on top in the women’s tournament.
Unfortunately, Team GB will not have a team in the competition yet again this year.
Here, talkSPORT.com has broken down everything you need to know about football at the 2024 Olympics…
Football at Paris 2024: Dates and schedule
The football events at the Paris Olympics begin on Wednesday, July 24 and will run until Saturday, August 10.
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Due to the number of matches being played, the football begins two days before the official opening ceremony on Friday.
In the men’s tournament, the final will be held on Friday, August 9 while for the women, the final will take place a day later.
The winner of each will receive gold medals while runners-up receive silver.
There will also be bronze medal matches held on Thursday, August 8.
Both finals will be held at Paris Saint-German’s Parc des Princes.
Football stadiums at 2024 Olympics
- Parc des Princes, Paris
- Stade de Marseille, Marseille
- Stade de Lyon, Decines-Charpieu
- Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Stade de Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Stade de Nice, Nice
- Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Football at Paris 2024: Rules and format
The rules of Olympic football are the same as the domestic and international game.
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However, there is a change when it comes to requirements in each team with only three players above the age of 23 allowed in each men’s squad.
There are no age restrictions in the women’s squads.
When it comes to the format, in the men’s event, there are 16 countries involved in a tournament-style format, with those teams separated into four groups of four.
In the women’s event, there are 12 countries split into three groups of four.
The top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams across all groups progress through to the knockout stages.
After the group stages, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches will follow.
Past football medal winners
Men's
- Sydney 2000 - Cameroon (Gold), Spain (Silver), Chile (Bronze)
- Athens 2004 - Argentina (Gold), Paraguay (Silver), Italy (Bronze)
- Beijing 2008 - Argentina (Gold), Nigeria (Silver), Brazil (Bronze)
- London 2012 - Mexico (Gold), Brazil (Silver), South Korea (Bronze)
- Rio 2016 - Brazil (Gold), Germany (Silver), Nigeria (Bronze)
- Tokyo 2020 - Brazil ( Gold), Spain (Silver), Mexico (Bronze)
Women's
- Sydney 2000 - Norway (Gold), USA (Silver), Germany (Bronze)
- Athens 2004 - USA (Gold), Brazil (Silver), Germany (Bronze)
- Beijing 2008 - USA (Gold), Brazil (Silver), Germany (Bronze)
- London 2012 - USA (Gold), Japan (Silver), Canada (Bronze)
- Rio 2016 - Germany (Gold), Sweden (Silver), Canada (Bronze)
- Tokyo 2020 - Canada (Gold), Sweden (Silver), USA (Bronze)
Football at Paris 2024: Teams and notable players
Below are the groups for the Olympics:
Men’s
- Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand
- Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine
- Group C: Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic
- Group D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel
Women’s
- Group A: France, Colombia, Canada, New Zealand
- Group B: USA, Zambia, Germany, Australia
- Group C: Spain, Japan, Nigeria, Brazil
There are many footballing stars set to feature at the Paris Olympics.
France and Arsenal icon Thierry Henry is managing the host's team while ex-Barcelona and Liverpool legend Javier Mascherano coaches Argentina.
On the pitch, it’s the French side that boasts some unbelievable quality.
Michael Olise, who is set to join Bayern Munich, will play while PSG’s young stars Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola will also be there.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, Lesley Ugochukwu, Khepren Thuram and Leny Yoro are some other highly-rated players in European football playing for Henry’s side.
Away from France, Thiago Almada will star for Argentina who tried to take Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez but the Blues blocked him from going.
Manchester City’s Sergio Gomez is set to play for Spain alongside Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez and Chelsea-linked Samu Omorodion.
Women’s football legend Alex Morgan won’t be part of Emma Hayes’ USA team but Arsenal’s Emily Fox and Chelsea’s Catarina Macario will be there.
Real Madrid’s Hayley Raso and Man City’s Mary Fowler will be playing for Australia.
Football at Paris 2024: How to follow
talkSPORT will be covering the entirety of the Olympic Games.
Our multi-award-winning presenters and pundits will provide fans with unlimited coverage and content from Paris.
talkSPORT.com will also keep you up to date with all the latest.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
The Olympics will also be shown across all of the BBC’s channels in the UK.
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This can be viewed for free on TV as well as live-streamed through the BBC Website or BBC iPlayer via tablet or mobile devices.
TNT Sports and Discovery+ will also have coverage with the action broadcast live on Eurosport with fans able to subscribe here.