three questions to understand everything about the draw for the Olympic football tournaments

The draw will deliver its verdict on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (live on France 3). The two French teams are placed in pot 1 thanks to their status as host country.

What fate for the French teams? The draw for the Olympic football tournaments will take place on Wednesday March 20 at the Paris 2024 headquarters in Saint-Denis and will be broadcast on France 3 and france.tv from 8 p.m. The French football teams will thus know the menu of a competition which will take place from July 24 to August 10. The Blues will seek to win the first trophy in their history, while the men’s team will try to reproduce the feat of Henri Michel’s team, who won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The draw will be carried out by Didier Drogba, Javier Saviola, Marie-José Pérec and Stéphanie Labbé (former Canadian goalkeeper, reigning Olympic champion), in the presence of Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024 and the selectors of the French Olympic teams. male and female, Thierry Henry and Hervé Renard. Many personalities from the world of football such as Arsène Wenger, Youri Djorkaeff and Olivier Dacourt are also invited.

Which teams are qualified?

For the moment, not all the teams qualified for the Olympic tournaments are known. For women, two tickets are still to be distributed, while there are four for men. As host country, France is automatically qualified for the women’s and men’s tournaments, and placed in hat 1 of each table. The United States, Spain and New Zealand will also field their women’s and men’s teams. Among the men, of the four places still to be distributed, three will be awarded during the Asian Under-23 Championship, organized in Qatar from April 15 to May 3. The last ticket will be contested between Guinea and an Asian team from this same tournament during an intercontinental play-off.

Among the women, only two African nations have yet to win the precious sesame, during the CAF Olympic qualifying tournament, organized from 1er to April 9. Four teams are still in the running: Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Morocco.

What is the print format?

The 16 men’s teams will be divided into four groups of four, while the 12 women’s teams will be divided into three groups of four. For the draw, the men’s nations are divided into four hats of four, thanks to a ranking system based on the number of points obtained during the last five Olympic Games. Which currently gives hat 1 with France, due to its status as host country, Argentina and two teams from the U23 Asian championship.

The 12 women’s teams will be classified into different hats based on their position in the FIFA women’s world rankings. A rather advantageous distribution for Hervé Renard’s Bleues, who will rub shoulders with Spain and the United States in pot 1, two behemoths of world football that they will therefore not be able to face in the group stage.

Men

Hat 1: France, Argentina, two qualified via the Asian U23 championship

Hat 2: Spain, New Zealand, Paraguay, Morocco

Hat 3: United States, Egypt, Mali, one qualified via the Asian U23 Championship

Hat 4: Dominican Republic, Israel, Ukraine, the winner of the intercontinental play-off between a qualifier via the Asian U23 championship and Guinea

Women

Hat 1: France, Spain, United States

Hat 2: Germany, Japan, Canada

Hat 3: Brazil, Australia, Colombia

Hat 4: New Zealand, two qualifiers from the Africa zone

How will the Olympic tournaments take place?

The Olympic football tournaments will begin on July 24, before the opening ceremony. For the qualified teams, the objective will be simple: finish among the first two in each group to open the doors to the quarter-finals. The two best third-place finishers in the women’s tournament will be added to obtain eight qualifiers. Seven stadiums in France have been selected by the organizing committee for these men’s and women’s football tournaments. The two men’s and then women’s finals scheduled for August 9 and 10 will be played at the Parc des Princes in Paris, while the small finals, with a bronze medal up for grabs, are scheduled at the La Beaujoire stadium in Nantes for the boys and at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon for girls. The Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, the Allianz Riviera in Nice, the Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux and the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Étienne will also host matches from the various tournaments.