Women Olympic Football: Full Fixtures & Schedules, Teams, Groups

Jenny Barry July 17, 2021 | 07:30

Women Olympic football: Check full fixtures, schedules, teams, groups, how to watch.

Women Olympic football

When does the Women's Olympics 2020 football start: Dates, Kick Off Times

Football kicks off at the 2020 Olympics in Japan with the women's tournament scheduled to begin on Wednesday July 21, 2021.

Games will take place from the early to late evening in Japan, which means they will be broadcast in the morning and afternoon in the United Kingdom, from 8:30am to 12:30pm BST.

Followers in the United States will have to get up extra early to watch games, with games kicking off at around 3:30am to 7:30am ET.

The first women's football fixture will take place on July 21st, two days before the Opening Ceremony of the Games. Matches will be spread out throughout the Olympic roster and will run until the final on August 6th.

Great Britain will kick off the tournament against Group E opponents Chile at the Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido.

The match will begin at 16:30 local time, 08:30 BST.The women's tournament will conclude with the final on August 6, while the men's tournament wraps up a day later on August 7.

Which and How Many teams are in the women's Olympics 2020 football?

A total of 12 teams from six continental federations will compete in the 2020 women's Olympics football tournament

While England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete individually in FIFA competition, they will be represented by Team GB at the Olympics.

The Team GB selection is mostly made up of England players, with two players from Scotland and one player from Wales.

Yuzuho Shiokoshi of Japan, Brazil's Bruna Benites and Carli Lloyd of USA are among the stars taking part in this summer's tournament.

Defending champions Germany failed to qualify after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. The Netherlands, Sweden, USA and England (represented as Team GB at the Games) booked their place by reaching the semi-finals.

The list of 12 teams are in the women's Olympics 2020 football

A total of 12 teams from six confederations will be competing at this year's Olympics.

The first group, Group E, will consist of host nation Japan, Canada, Great Britain, and Chile.

Group F will see China PR, Brazil, Zambia, and The Netherlands battle it out for a place in the knockouts, and finally Group G will be made up of Sweden, USA, Australia, and New Zealand.

Women's football has been assigned groups E-G to avoid confusion with the men's tournament, which uses a Group A-D system.

Group	Team	Federation
E	Canada	CONCACAF
E	Chile	CONMEBOL
E	Great Britain	UEFA*
E	Japan	AFC
F	Brazil	CONMEBOL
F	China	AFC
F	Netherlands	UEFA
F	Zambia	CAF
G	Australia	AFC
G	New Zealand	OFC
G	Sweden	UEFA
G	United States	CONCACAF

What is the format of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic women's football tournament?

The four teams in each group will play each other once on a round-robin basis, with a maximum of nine points up for grabs in total.

After each nation has played all three assigned fixtures, the top two teams in the group will advance into the knockout stages. Third-placed teams will enter a play-off group for another chance at reaching the next stage, with the best two qualifying for the knockouts.

The successful teams will then compete in the last eight – fixtures will be held across venues in Kashima, Saitama, Yokohama, and Rifu.The winners of the quarter-finals then move to the semis, before a gold medal match between the final two teams will take place on August 6th in Tokyo.

A bronze medal game will also be held to determine the full medal ranking for the tournament.

Women's Olympics football: Full fixtures & Schedules, Venues

The first two matches of the tournament will take place on July 21st. Group stage fixtures will run until July 27th, before the knockouts begin on the 30th.

Group E

Japan
Canada
Great Britain
Chile

Wednesday July 21

Group E: Great Britain vs Chile - Kick-off 4.30pm (Sapporo Dome, Sapporo)

Group E: Japan vs Canada - Kick-off 7.30pm (Sapporo Dome, Sapporo)

Saturday July 24

Group E: Chile vs Canada - Kick-off 4.30pm (Sapporo Dome, Sapporo)

Group E: Japan vs Great Britain - Kick-off 4.30pm (Sapporo Dome, Sapporo)

Tuesday July 27

Group E: Chile vs Japan - Kick-off 8pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Group E: Canada vs Great Britain - Kick-off 8pm (Kashima Stadium, Kashima)

Group F

China
Brazil
Zambia
Netherlands

Wednesday July 21

Group F: China vs Brazil - Kick-off 5pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Group F: Zambia vs Netherlands - Kick-off 8pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Saturday July 24

Group F: China vs Zambia - Kick-off 5pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Group F: Netherlands vs Brazil - Kick-off 8pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Tuesday July 27

Group F: Netherlands vs China - Kick-off 8.30pm (International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama)

Group F: Brazil vs Zambia - Kick-off 8.30pm (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama)

Group G

Sweden
USA
Australia
New Zealand

Wednesday July 21

Group G: Sweden vs USA - Kick-off 5.30pm (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)

Group G: Australia vs New Zealand - Kick-off 8.30pm (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo)

Saturday July 24

Group G: Sweden vs Australia - Kick-off 5.30pm (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama)

Group G: New Zealand vs USA - Kick-off 8.30pm (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama)

Tuesday July 27

Group G: New Zealand vs Sweden - Kick-off 5pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Group G: USA vs Australia - Kick-off 5pm (Kashima Stadium, Kashima)

Knock-out stage - The route to Gold

Quarter-finals

Friday July 30

Quarter-final 1: Runner-up of Group E vs Runner-up of Group F - Kick-off 5pm (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu)

Quarter-final 2: Winner of Group E vs 3rd in Group F/G - Kick-off 6pm (Kashima Stadium, Kashima)

Quarter-final 3: Winner of Group G vs 3rd Group E/F - Kick-off 7pm (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama)

Quarter-final 4: Winner of Group F vs Runner-up of Group G - Kick-off 8pm (International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama)

Semi-finals

Monday August 2

Semi-final 1: Winner of Quarter-final 4 vs Winner of Quarter-final 1 - Kick-off 5pm (Kashima Stadium, Kashima)

Semi-final 2: Winner of Quarter-final 2 vs Winner of Quarter-final 3 - Kick-off 8pm (International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama)

Bronze medal match

Thursday August 5

Loser of Semi-final 2 vs Loser of Semi-final 1 - Kick-off 5pm (Kashima Stadium, Kashima)

Gold medal match

Friday August 6

Winner of Semi-final 2 vs Winner of Semi-final 1 - Kick-off 11am (National Stadium, Tokyo)

The quarter-finals will take place three days after the final group stage matches, with the semi-finals scheduled for August 2nd and the bronze medal match on August 5th. The grand final will be held on August 6th.

How to watch the Tokyo 2020 Olympic women's football?

For viewers in the UK, the BBC and Eurosport will be broadcasting the Tokyo Olympics.

BBC One will show the Opening Ceremony ceremony, as well as devoting the whole Olympic calendar to airing the events for free and offering a catch-up service on BBC iPlayer for those unable to watch live.

Team GB’s opening match against Chile will be broadcast live on BBC Two. Former Arsenal defender Alex Scott will present coverage.

Who are the favourites to win the Tokyo 2020 Olympic women's football?

The USA will likely be viewed as the favourites to win at the Tokyo Olympics, given the fact they have previously won four gold medals and are currently the highest ranked international team in the world.

However, they will be heavily contested by 2016 runners-up Sweden, who missed out on winning gold in a 2-1 defeat to champions Germany.

The Netherlands, who are ranked fourth in the world, will be making their Olympic debut this summer and will be looking to leave their mark on the Games.

Brazil, Canada, Australia, and Japan are all ranked inside the top ten in the world. The most recent highest finish between these four teams was Japan at London 2012, where they won a silver medal after the USA pipped them to gold in the final. However, Brazil boast back-to-back silvers from Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and Canada have won bronze twice.