The draw for the football competitions of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 took place on Wednesday 20 March 2024, at the Paris 2024 headquarters in Saint-Denis.
Present at the ceremony was top football personalities including Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024; Arsène Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development; the coaches of the French Olympic men’s and women’s football teams, Thierry Henry and Hervé Renard; as well as the coaches of the qualified teams and players, including people from the 1984 French Olympic football champion team.
The draw was made by Javier Saviola (ARG, 2004 Olympic football champion), Didier Drogba (CIV, 2012 Champions League winner), Stéphanie Labbé (CAN, 2020 Olympic football champion), Marie-José Perec (Olympic champion in the 400m in 1992 and 1996, and the 200m in 1996), Sarai Bareman, FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer and Jaime Yarza, Director of FIFA Tournaments.
The 12 teams already qualified for the men’s tournament (out of 16) are now fixed draws for the football tournaments. However, the most eye-catching group (B) brings together Argentina, Morocco, Ukraine and a team from the Asian Zone.
Placed in Group A as the host country, the French Olympic team has inherited competitors that, on paper, it should be able to overcome. Thierry Henry’s players will line up against the United States in Marseille at 9pm on 24 July, followed on 27 July by the winner of the play-off match between Guinea and a team from the Asian Zone. The French team will close its group phase campaign against New Zealand on 30 July in Marseille.
Although the 16 selections will not be known until closer to the Games, the tournament will provide an opportunity, as it does for every edition, to see global stars who decide to come and lend a helping hand to the hopefuls – like Neymar at the Games in Rio in 2016 – in action, or up-and-coming stars on the cusp of an exceptional career (like Platini, Ronaldo, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Enrique, Guardiola and Xavi, who have all taken part in the Games in the past), in their quest for an Olympic title.
The women’s tournament, with a highly select 12-team format (10 teams have already qualified), guarantees some exceptional match-ups from the group phase (draws for the football tournaments attached). Group B, with the United States, Germany, Australia and a team from the African Zone appears daunting, just like Group C, with Spain, Japan, Brazil and a team from the Africa Zone.
The French women’s team, coached by Hervé Renard, has inherited a particularly tough group. They will face Colombia in Lyon at 9pm on 25 July, then Canada, the reigning Olympic Champions, at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in Saint-Etienne at 9pm on 28 July, before fininshing their group phase on 31 July in Lyon against New Zealand.
The football competitions of the Games of Paris 2024 will take place from Wednesday 24 July (i.e. two days before the Opening Ceremony) to Saturday 10 August 2024 in seven cities: Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Paris (Parc des Princes) and Saint-Etienne.
Two football matches counting towards the men’s tournament will open the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Wednesday 24 July at 3pm: Egypt vs the second-place team in the Asian (AFC) U23 Championship in Paris (Parc des Princes) and Argentina vs Morocco in Saint-Etienne.
Lyon: 11 matches (including 2 semi-finals – 1 men’s and 1 women’s – and the women’s bronze medal match)
Paris Parc des Princes: 10 matches (including the 2 finals – 1 men’s and 1 women’s)
Nantes: 8 matches (including the men’s bronze medal match)
Bordeaux: 7 matches
Saint-Etienne: 6 matches
Nice: 6 matches
Meanwhile, President of Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet has spoken about football competition:
“A France- USA on 24 July in Marseille and a France-Colombia on 25 July is the dream start to the football competitions of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. We can’t wait for the kick-off and to experience the collective joy of these football events, which will bring together the 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams that have qualified to contest an Olympic title in a super-select tournament format, with matches taking place all across our country – from Nice to Nantes by way of Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Marseille and Paris for the finals. The 58 matches on the programme will each also be a celebration, exciting and inspiring hundreds of thousands of spectators next summer. This evening’s draw in Saint-Denis, organised with the valuable assistance of FIFA, brings the promise of some big football moments to come.”
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