Football
Twelve footballing nations will battle it out at Paris 2024 in a bid to win an Olympic medal.
Qualification for the Olympic Games has previously been decided by World Cup finishings, but this year saw a change to the qualification system and a new reliance on the UEFA Nations League results.
It was decided that the top two finishing teams from the 2023/24 UEFA Women’s Nations League would go on to claim a spot at Paris 2024 - a fate which has now been confirmed for Europe’s top sides. A similar qualification system was then implemented for the American, Oceanic, Asian and African confederations.
Olympics.com takes a look at the teams that have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, as well as who has missed out.
Qualification by UEFA Women’s Nations League
Teams were split into four groups of four for the group stages in League A of the UEFA Women’s Nations League, with the top four teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
Netherlands, who were in Group A1 alongside England, Scotland and Belgium, topped their group with 12 points and a goal difference of eight.
The Dutch beat Belgium 4-0 in their final group game which meant that the European Champions England, despite winning 6-0 against Scotland in their final game, missed out on a chance for Paris 2024 qualification. England failing to qualify means that Team GB - the combined team of England, Scotland and Wales - will not compete in Paris.
France topped Group A2 with sixteen points which saw them move onto the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Nations League. As the hosts for this year's Olympic Games, France have already qualified.
Germany finished top of Group A3 by a single point, with Denmark just missing out on their chance to qualify for Paris 2024, and reigning FIFA World Cup champions Spain took the remaining semi-final spot after topping Group A4 by five clear points.
Spain went on to win their semi-final against the Netherlands 3-0 on 23 February to secure their spot for Paris. Germany beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the UEFA Women’s Nations League third place play-off on Wednesday (28 February) to obtain the final European spot.
Qualification by CONCACAF W
The USWNT won their spot in Paris after they won the CONCACAF W Championship in July 2022. They beat current Olympic Gold medallists Canada 1-0.
However Canada still managed qualification after a two-legged 4-1 win over Jamaica in a Olympic Concacaf play-off match.
Qualification by Copa América Femenina
Brazil and Colombia secured their qualification an entire two years prior to Paris 2024 when they both made it to the Copa América Femenina final in 2022.
Brazil beat Paraguay 2-0 in the semi-finals which saw them progress to the final, whilst Colombia won 1-0 against Argentina.
In the end it was Brazil who emerged victorious with a 2-0 win in the final, but both teams had already done enough to secure their spot at Paris 2024.
Brazil secured their Paris 2024 qualification in 2022 with their Copa América win over Colombia
Paris 2024 Women's Football Qualification
The following nations have confirmed their qualification for Paris 2024:
- France (as host nation)
- USA (Concacaf W Champions)
- Canada (Concacaf play-off winners)
- Brazil (Copa América Femenina semi-finalists)
- Colombia (Copa América Femenina semi-finalists)
- New Zealand (OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament winner)
- Spain (UEFA Women's Nations League finalist)
- Japan (AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
- Australia (AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
- Germany (UEFA Women's Nations League third-place play-off winner)
- Nigeria (CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
- Zambia (CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament)
The third and final round of the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament took place in February 2024. Australia beat Uzbekistan 3-0 and 10-0 to qualify for Paris 202 while Japan defeated North Korea 2-1 at home after drawing 0-0 in the first leg.
The 2024 OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in February 2024 with just one space at the Olympic Games up for grabs. New Zealand trounced the Solomon Islands 11-1 in the final to secure qualification to Paris 2024.
Nigeria and Zambia obtained the final two spots to Paris in the deciding matches on 9 April at the 2024 CAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament.
Zambia needed extra time to eliminate Morocco, turning around a 2-1 first leg loss with a 2-0 in Rabat. Nigeria drew 0-0 with South Africa, after a 1-0 win last week.