Football

Although football can trace its roots back to Ancient China, the modern version of the game was born on the streets of medieval England, before going on to become the most popular sport in the world.

The (very) early games of football in medieval England involved a large mass of people who would attempt to drag a pig’s bladder—by any means possible—to markers at opposing ends of a town. Such events were well known for being as violent as they were popular. In the 16th century, English schools established the modern football codes, thereby transforming what were mob riots into a proper sport.

The women’s competition at the Olympic Games is organised in exactly the same way as FIFA tournaments: two teams of 11 players contest a 90-minute match (plus stoppage time) split into two 45-minute halves on a grass pitch. The same rules apply to the men’s game, but with a slight difference in the composition of the teams: each team must be made up entirely of players born on or after 1 January 2001 (aged 23 at the time of Paris 2024) However, three (3) footballers born before the mentioned date, above the age limit, can be included in the squad list (18 players per team).

Football is also one of the few sports at the Games where the tournament starts before the opening ceremony due to the number of matches; since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the football tournament has started two days before the Games are officially opened.

Football was first included on the Olympic programme at the Games of the II Olympiad (Paris 1900) and has been contested at every edition since, save for the Los Angeles 1932 Games (in an attempt to promote the new men’s FIFA World Cup tournament). 

Women’s football made its Olympic debut at the Atlanta Games in 1996. The USA has finished on top of the podium multiple times, including at Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Germany won gold at Rio 2016, while Canada are the defending Olympic champions after triumphing at Tokyo 2020.

Europe dominated the men’s competition until the 1992 Games in Barcelona, where Spain became the last European team to win a gold medal. Since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, African and Latin American teams have won every gold medal, with Brazil repeating as Olympic champions at Tokyo 2020.

Many footballing greats have taken part in the Olympic Games, including Ferenc Puskás in 1952, Lev Yashin in 1956, Samuel Eto’o in 2000, Lionel Messi in 2008, Neymar in 2012 and 2016, Marta in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020, and Alex Morgan in 2012, 2016 and 2020.