This Tournament is Giving Drag Race All Stars
The competition in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be fierce! Read on to learn more about the tournament format, who’s favored, and the top players to watch.
This is Part Four of the Soccer Freaks’ fan guide for the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Click here to start from the beginning.
Only 12 teams qualify for the Olympics, as compared to the 32 that played in the most recent World Cup, which makes this tournament uniquely intense. It means every group can be considered a “Group of Death,” and will make for high-quality soccer and neck-and-neck games from the jump. Since qualification happens by region (two teams from each of the six regions), it’s harder to qualify in regions that are more competitive, such as the stacked UEFA (aka Europe). Top teams including the #3 FIFA ranked England and the #4 FIFA ranked Sweden will both miss the Olympics for this reason, while the #28 FIFA ranked New Zealand made it through in the far less competitive Oceana conference.
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How it Works
Group Stage: The 12 teams in the tournament are organized into three groups of four. The two teams with the most points (Win = 3, Draw = 1, Loss = 0) from each group after the three group stage games, and the two third place teams across the groups, will all advance to the knockout stage. This includes the quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals, and, of course, culminating in the finals.
Knockout Stage: Starting with the quarterfinals, if games are tied at the end of regulation (two 45-minute halves plus stoppage time), they will go into two, full* 15-minute extra time periods. If the score is still level at the conclusion of these 30 additional minutes, the winner will be decided via a penalty kick (PK) shootout (the best of 5 shots taken 12 yards from the goal, one-on-one against the keeper).
*Extra time is not “sudden death,” where the game ends once a goal is scored; 30 minutes plus stoppage time is played in its entirety.
Groups
Group A: France, Colombia, Canada, New Zealand
Group B: USA, Zambia, Germany, Australia
Group C: Spain, Japan, Nigeria, Brazil
Reigning Champs
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (played in 2021), Canada pulled off a pretty major upset when they won gold, knocking out the tournament favorite USWNT in the semifinal before beating Sweden on penalty kicks in the final. Since then, Canada has conducted a protest against their own federation, crashed out of the group stage at the 2023 World Cup, and said goodbye to their all-time leading goal scorer, Christine Sinclair, after she retired from international football earlier this year. Canada will come into this tournament looking to spoil the party once again, but haven’t put in big performances recently that prove they have what it takes this time around to do so.
Sexual Misconduct Allegations Cast a Dark Shadow Over the Competition
In a move that is sickening and entirely too common in the world of women’s sports, Zambia’s head coach Bruce Mwape remains in charge at this tournament despite multiple accusations of sexual misconduct made against him by a FIFA contractor at the 2023 World Cup, and by players on his own squad. Surprising absolutely no one, FIFA’s ongoing investigation into Mwape didn’t keep him from coaching in this tournament, but his visa application initially was. Originally rejected due to French laws that prohibit those accused of sexual crimes from entering the country, Mwape’s visa was eventually approved with “strict” stipulations, including not having private contact with any players.
For obvious reasons, these visa-mandated restrictions aren’t nearly enough. Simply managing situations in which Mwape is most likely to commit the same sexual misconduct does not actually keep the Zambian players safe, nor does it create the environment they deserve to play their best soccer.
Tournament Favorites
(1) Spain is giving Chappell Roan
Spain has been talent soaked from the beginning, but in the past few years they’ve actually found their winning form. Outside of a few flukey losses, Spain has been pretty H-O-T-T-O-G-O. They’re not just good, they’re fun as hell to watch, and it’s hard to imagine them slowing down any time soon.
With all of the starting 11 players that beat England in the 2023 World Cup final on their roster for Paris—including two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati—Spain are the natural favorites to win this tournament. That said, a recent 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic in the Women’s EURO 2025 qualifiers sparks hope for teams trying to stop them.
Spain has also been THROUGH IT as a team off the field, from 15 players protesting working conditions leading into the 2023 World Cup, to veteran player Jenni Hermoso getting sexually assaulted on stage by their former federation president while celebrating their World Cup win, to the court battle that followed. But it seems they’ve come out on the other side, still playing beautiful soccer, still winning, and maybe even bonded together stronger for everything they’ve been through.
Players to Watch: Aitana Bonmati, Salma Paralluelo
(2) France is giving Leonardo Dicaprio before his Oscar
France is always in the mix right up there with the best, but has yet to turn any of their many big moments at major tournaments into actual championships. The pressure is on as they are once again the host nation for a major tournament. They were previously unable to make it happen in the 2019 World Cup that was hosted in France, where they lost 2-1 to the US in the quarterfinals.
It’s worth noting that France comes into this tournament in a very different, and hopefully far better, place than they did the 2023 World Cup. Ahead of that tournament, the French players launched a protest over working conditions that instigated an overhaul in management just months before taking the field— a positive result that the team should never have had to expend the energy to make happen.
For this tournament, better vibes and new goalscoring energy up top will be in their favor, but a recent 2-1 upset loss to Ireland in EURO qualifying will have fans wary as they kick things off in Group A.
Players to Watch: Captain Wendie Renard, Kadidiatou Diani
(3) Germany is giving box of chocolates
Before the 2023 World Cup, this guide said that Germany was giving “Fuck around and find out,” and what we found was Germany crashing out in the group stage. What’s German for “My bad…”? Since then, they achieved third place in the Nation’s League, lost a EURO Qualifier match to 14th-ranked Iceland 3-0, and lost key midfielder Lena Oberdorf to a serious knee injury in their last match before Paris. As Germany enters another major tournament with a stacked roster and consistently inconsistent record, sentiments around their upcoming performance remain the same— you just never really know what you’re gonna get!
Players to Watch: Lea Schuller, Alexandra Popp
(4) The United States is giving “Shake it Off”
Expectations aren’t as high for this actively rebuilding USWNT as they’ve been in the past, but that doesn’t mean they’ll receive any less attention or scrutiny. They recently fell to FIFA’s #5 world ranking, their lowest ranking ever, but maybe that’s a good thing. There’s no better motivator than having something to prove, afterall. All eyes will be on them, with fans, the media, and armchair critics alike ready to wildly speculate about what every performance and result in this tournament means for the future of the program.
Let’s make one thing clear: this current USWNT has the talent it takes to compete with the best. What they lacked in the 2023 World Cup was a more sophisticated tactical plan that would give them a chance to compete with the growing game. Emma Hayes is working to change that, and the players will be looking to prove the haters wrong (looking at you, Carli Lloyd) in the process. The question is whether their limited time under their new manager will be enough to see results right now, or if it will be too soon to tell.
Players to Watch: Mallory Swanson, Lindsey Horan, Naomi Girma
(5) Japan is so Julia
Japan is an agent of chaos, a beloved underdog (by comparison to the powerhouses, that is). They’re a good team capable of winning big games against top teams, but they're inconsistent and can be overpowered physically. While never predicted to win it all, no team is safe against them! We saw that in the 2023 World Cup in their statement-making 4-0 win in group play against eventual tournament winners Spain. They looked virtually unbeatable until, well, they were beaten (by Sweden in the quarterfinals).
Recent losses to the US and Brazil in the SheBelieves Cup this summer might have fans nervous, but could also provide the motivation the team needs to shake things up once again in this tournament.
Players to Watch: Hinata Miyazawa, Yui Hasegawa
More Players to Watch
Mayra Ramirez, Colombia
Barbra Banda, Zambia
Mary Fowler, Australia
Caitlin Foord, Australia
Adriana, Brazil
What about the men?
What about them? Kidding! Kind of. The men’s soccer tournament in the Olympics is wildly different from the women’s and from other major international tournaments. Rosters for the men’s side are limited to players under the age of 23, with three exceptions made for players 23+. With the Euros and Copa América also taking place this summer and pre-season starting shortly for the major European leagues, big time players, even those under 23, are unlikely to feature.
That said, France’s men’s team coached by France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry* should be very fun to watch. With their senior side so stacked, their Olympics squad will still boast an impressive roster, including Premier League standout Michael Olise from Crystal Palace.
*Thierry Henry is one of the handful of names being thrown around for the vacant USMNT manager position. We can dream!