IF Euro 2020 wasn’t exciting enough, there’s plenty more football at the Tokyo Olympics.
And Team GB have their women’s side BACK at the Games, where they are looking to go for the gold they missed out on at London 2012.
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The likes of France, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Germany will be competing in Japan as football makes it’s long awaited return to the Olympics.
The Team GB women’s football team will be right in the mix as well.
The tournament itself will start on Wednesday, July 22 – two days before the opening ceremony – until Saturday, August 8.
Hege Riise’s women’s side are due to play Chile in the first match of the tournament in Group E, on July 21 before also playing Canada and Chile in their other initial group games, which will all be played at the Sapporo Stadium.
Team GB women’s Group E fixtures:
- Wednesday, July 21 – Great Britain 2-0 Chile – 8.30am UK (4.30pm Japan)
- Saturday, July 24 – Japan 0-1 Great Britain – 11am UK approx (7pm Japan)
- Tuesday, July 27 – Canada 1-1 Great Britain – 11.30am UK approx (7.30pm Japan)
*Kick off times marked approximate are because games are clustered into sets of two, the Olympic organisers only give kick-off times for the early matches.
What are the Olympic football groups?
The men’s competition will consist of sixteen teams split up four by four per group and the women’s competition will consist of 12 teams split up in three groups.
Men’s groups
- Group A: Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France
- Group B: New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras, Romania
- Group C: Egypt, Spain, Argentina, Australia
- Group D: Brazil, Germany, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia
Women’s groups
- Group E: Japan, Great Britain, Chile, Canada
- Group F: Brazil, Netherlands, China, Zambia
- Group G: USA, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand
The GB Women’s team qualified for the Olympics by virtue of England’s performance at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, when they finished fourth in France.
Defending champions Germany will not field a women’s side at the Olympics after they lost their World Cup quarter-final to Sweden.
And unlike the men’s event – which is an under-23 tournament – the Olympics is one of women’s football’s biggest events, with no age restrictions.
Olympic football fixtures in full
Games in the same group are being played two at a time in various stadia, so second kick-off times are approximate.
Wednesday July 21 – Women
- E: Great Britain 2-0 Chile
- E: Japan 1-1 Canada
- F: China 0-5 Brazil
- F: Zambia 3-10 Netherlands
- G: Sweden 3-0 USA
- G: Australia 2-1 New Zealand
Thursday July 22 – Men
- C: Egypt 0-0 Spain
- C: Argentina 0-2 Australia
- A: Mexico 4-1 France
- A: Japan 1-0 South Africa
- B: New Zealand 1-0 South Korea
- B: Honduras 0-1 Romania
- D: Ivory Coast 2-1 Saudi Arabia
- D: Brazil 4-2 Germany
Saturday July 24 – Women
- E: Chile 1-2 Canada
- E: Japan 0-1 Great Britain
- F: China 4-4 Zambia
- F: Netherlands 3-3 Brazil
- G: Sweden 4-2 Australia
- G: New Zealand 1-6 USA
Sunday July 25 – Men
- C: Egypt 0-1 Argentina
- C: Australia 0-1 Spain
- B: New Zealand 2-3 Honduras
- B: Romania 0-4 South Korea
- A: France 4-3 South Africa
- A: Japan 2-1 Mexico
- D: Brazil 0-0 Ivory Coast
- D: Saudi Arabia 2-3 Germany
Tuesday July 27 – Women
- G: New Zealand 0-2 Sweden
- G: USA 0-0 Australia
- E: Chile 0-1 Japan
- E: Canada 1-1 Great Britain
- F: Brazil 1-0 Zambia
- F: Netherlands 8-2 China
Wednesday July 28 – Men
- D: Germany 1-1 Ivory Coast
- D: Saudi Arabia 1-3 Brazil
- C: Australia 0-2 Egypt
- C: Spain 1-1 Argentina
- B: Romania 0-0 New Zealand
- B: South Korea 6-0 Honduras
- A: South Africa 0-3 Mexico
- A: France 0-4 Japan
Friday July 30 – Women’s quarter-finals
- Canada vs Brazil – 9am UK (5pm Japan)
- Great Britain vs Australia – 10am UK (6pm Japan)
- Sweden vs Japan – 11am UK (7pm Japan)
- Netherlands vs United States – 12 noon UK (8pm Japan)
Saturday July 31 – Men’s quarter-finals
- Spain vs Ivory Coast – 9am UK (5pm Japan)
- Japan vs New Zealand – 10am UK (6pm Japan)
- Brazil vs Egypt – 11am UK (7pm Japan)
- South Korea vs Mexico – 12 noon UK (8pm Japan)
Monday August 2 – Women’s semi-finals
- Netherlands/United States vs Canada/Brazil – 9am UK (5pm Japan)
- Great Britain/Australia vs Sweden/Japan – 12 noon UK (8pm Japan)
Tuesday August 3 – Men’s semi-finals
- South Korea/Mexico vs Brazil/Egypt – 9am UK (5pm Japan)
- Japan/New Zealand vs Spain/Ivory Coast – 12 noon UK (8pm Japan)
Thursday August 5 – Women
- Women’s bronze medal match – 9am UK (5pm Japan)
Friday August 6 – Women and Men
- Women’s gold medal final – 3am UK (11am Japan)
- Men’s bronze medal match – 12 Noon UK (8pm Japan)
Saturday August 7 – Men
- Men’s gold medal final – 12.30pm UK (8.30pm Japan)
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
