The draw will take place on Wednesday at 8 pm (live on France 3). The two French teams are placed in pot 1 thanks to the host country status.
France Télévisions – Sports Editorial
Published on 20/03/2024 at 7:00
What fate awaits the French teams? The draw for the football tournaments at the Olympics 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 pm. The French football teams will find out the schedule for a competition that will take place from July 24 to August 10. The French women’s team will be looking to win their first trophy, while the men’s team will be trying to replicate the success of the Henri Michel squad, who won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
The draw will be conducted by Didier Drogba, Javier Saviola, Marie-José Pérec, and Stéphanie Labbé (former goalkeeper for Canada, current Olympic champion), in the presence of Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, and the coaches of the French men’s and women’s Olympic teams, Thierry Henry and Hervé Renard. Many football personalities like Arsène Wenger, Youri Djorkaeff, and Olivier Dacourt are also invited.
Which teams are qualified?
So far, not all teams qualified for the Olympic tournaments are known. For the women, two spots are still open, while for the men, there are four. As the host country, France is automatically qualified for both the men’s and women’s tournaments and placed in pot 1 for each. The United States, Spain, and New Zealand will also have their men’s and women’s teams competing. For the men, out of the four remaining spots, three will be determined during the AFC U23 Championship in Qatar from April 15 to May 3. The last spot will be contested between Guinea and an Asian team from the same tournament in an intercontinental playoff.
For the women, only two African nations are yet to qualify, which will be decided during the CAF Olympic Qualifiers from April 1 to 9. The four remaining teams are Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Morocco.
What is the format of the draw?
The 16 men’s teams will be divided into four groups of four, while the 12 women’s teams will be placed in three groups of four. The men’s teams will be divided into four pots of four based on a ranking system using points from the last five Olympic Games. At the moment, France is in pot 1 alongside Argentina and two teams from the AFC U23 Championship.
Women
Pot 1: France, Spain, United States
Pot 2: Germany, Japan, Canada
How will the Olympic tournaments unfold?
The Olympic football tournaments will begin on July 24, before the opening ceremony. For the qualified teams, the goal will be to finish in the top two of each group to advance to the quarter-finals. In the women’s tournament, the top two third-placed teams will also qualify, making a total of eight teams. Seven stadiums in France have been selected for the men’s and women’s football tournaments. The finals for both men and women on August 9 and 10 will be held at the Parc des Princes in Paris, with the bronze medal matches scheduled at La Beaujoire in Nantes for men and the Groupama Stadium in Lyon for women. Other matches will be played at stadiums including the Vélodrome in Marseille, Allianz Riviera in Nice, Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, and Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne.
