Host City: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date Started: August 3, 2016
Date Finished: August 20, 2016
Events: 2

Participants: 473 (270 men and 203 women) from 23 countries
Youngest Participant:  Ellie Carpenter (16 years, 98 days)
Oldest Participant:   Formiga (38 years, 154 days)
Most Medals (Athlete): 106 athletes with 1 medal
Most Medals (Country): Germany (2 medals)

The association football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held from 3 to 20 August in Brazil.

In addition to the Olympic host city of Rio de Janeiro, matches were played in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Salvador, São Paulo, and Manaus. All six cities hosted matches during the 2014 World Cup, with the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio the only Olympic venue not to have been a World Cup venue.

Competition schedule

The match schedule of the men's and women's tournament was unveiled on 10 November 2015.

Venues

Training venues

Women's Football

The women's football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held from 3 to 19 August 2016. It was the 6th edition of the women's Olympic football tournament. Together with the men's competition, the 2016 Summer Olympics football tournament was held in six cities in Brazil, including Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the final at the Maracanã Stadium. There were no player age restrictions for teams participating in the women's competition.

In March 2016, it was agreed that the competition would be part of IFAB's trial to allow a fourth substitute to be made during extra time. Title holders and 2012 Summer Olympics gold Olympic medalists the United States, were eliminated in a loss against Sweden in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals. This marked the first time that the United States has not progressed to the semi-finals in a major international tournament. For the first time since the introduction of the women's tournament in 1996, three matches in the knockout stage were decided by a penalty shoot-out (two quarter-finals and one semifinal).

Germany won their first gold medal by defeating Sweden 2–1 in the final. Canada won bronze after beating host Brazil with the same scoreline in the bronze medal game.

Qualification

In addition to host nation Brazil, 11 women's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations. FIFA ratified the distribution of spots at the Executive Committee meeting in March 2014.

Means of qualification	Dates4	Venue4	Berths	Qualified
Host country	2 October 2009	Denmark	1	Brazil
2014 Copa América	11–28 September 2014	Ecuador	1	Colombia
2015 FIFA World Cup (for UEFA eligible teams)5	6 June – 5 July 2015	Canada	2	France
				Germany
2015 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament	2–18 October 2015	Various (home and away)	2	South Africa
				Zimbabwe6
2016 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament	23 January 2016	Papua New Guinea	1	New Zealand
2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship	10–21 February 2016	United States	2	Canada
				United States
2016 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament	29 February – 9 March 2016	Japan	2	Australia
				China PR
2016 UEFA Olympic Qualifying Tournament	2–9 March 2016	Netherlands	1	Sweden
Total			12

Match officials

On 2 May 2016, FIFA released the list of match referees that would officiate at the Olympics.

Draw

The draw for the tournament was held on 14 April 2016, 10:30 BRT (UTC−3), at the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro. The 12 teams in the women's tournament were drawn into three groups of four teams. The teams were seeded into four pots based on the FIFA Ranking of March 2016 (in brackets in the table). The hosts Brazil were automatically assigned into position E1. No groups can contain more than one team from the same confederation.

Group stage

The top two teams of each group and the two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals. The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows:

1. points obtained in all group matches;
2. goal difference in all group matches;
3. number of goals scored in all group matches;

If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:

4. points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
5. goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
6. number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
7. drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

The groups were denoted as groups E, F and G to avoid confusion with the groups of the men's tournament which used designations A–D.

Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

On 18 March 2016, the FIFA Executive Committee agreed that the competition would be part of the International Football Association Board's trial to allow a fourth substitute to be made during extra time.

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Gold medal match
	12 August — Belo Horizonte
	Brazil (p)	0 (7)
					16 August — Rio de Janeiro (Mar.)
	Australia	0 (6)
					Brazil	0 (3)
	12 August — Brasília
					Sweden (p)	0 (4)
	United States	1 (3)
									19 August — Rio de Janeiro (Mar.)
	Sweden (p)	1 (4)
									Sweden	1
	12 August — São Paulo
									Germany	2
	Canada	1
					16 August — Belo Horizonte
	France	0
					Canada	0
	12 August — Salvador
					Germany	2			Bronze medal match
	China PR	0
									19 August — São Paulo
	Germany	1
									Brazil	1
									Canada	2

Gold medal match

19 August 2016

17:30

Sweden	1–2	Germany
Blackstenius  67'		Marozsán  48' Sembrant  62' (o.g.)

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 52,432

Referee: Carol Chenard (Canada)

Bronze medal match

19 August 2016

13:00

Brazil	1–2	Canada
Beatriz  79'		Rose  25' Sinclair  52'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 39,718

Referee: Teodora Albon (Romania)

Semi-finals

16 August 2016

13:00

Brazil	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Sweden
Penalties
Marta Cristiane Andressa Alves Rafaelle Andressa	3–4	Schelin Asllani Seger Fischer Dahlkvist

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 70,454

Referee: Lucila Venegas (Mexico)

16 August 2016

16:00

Canada	0–2	Germany
		Behringer  21' (pen.) Däbritz  59'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 5,641

Referee: Ri Hyang-ok (North Korea)

Quarter-finals

12 August 2016

13:00

United States	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Sweden
Morgan  77'		Blackstenius  61'
Penalties
Morgan Horan Lloyd Brian Press	3–4	Schelin Asllani Sembrant Seger Dahlkvist

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília

Attendance: 13,892

Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley (New Zealand)

12 August 2016

16:00

China PR	0–1	Germany
		Behringer  76'

Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 9,642

Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)

12 August 2016

19:00

Canada	1–0	France
Schmidt  56'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 38,688

Referee: Claudia Umpierrez (Uruguay)

Brazil	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Australia
Penalties
Andressa Alves Andressa Beatriz Rafaelle Marta Debinha Monica Tamires	7–6	Kellond-Knight Alleway van Egmond Polkinghorne Gorry Heyman Logarzo Kennedy

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F	Australia	3	1	1	1	8	5	+3	4	Knockout stage
2	E	Sweden	3	1	1	1	2	5	−3	4
3	G	New Zealand	3	1	0	2	1	5	−4	3

Group E

Summary

The opening match between Sweden , which remains in two consecutive quarterfinals at the Games, and South Africa, which is participating for the second time in its history, begins at 1:00 p.m. at the Olympic Stadium Nilton-Santos after qualifying four years earlier for the London 2012 tournament. In an empty three-quarter stadium, Sweden exhibited their important physical and technical superiority without however succeeding in scoring due to a cruel lack of precision in the finish. It will be necessary to wait for the 76 ^th minute of play and a double foul of the hand of the South African goalkeeper Roxanne Barker on a corner to see Nilla Fischer push the ball into the back of the net and thus offer the victory to the Swedes on the lowest score.

The second group E match, the third of the day, marks the entry of the host country team , recent Copa America winner , against China, which regains the Games after failing to qualify in 2012 Thanks to a total superiority over his opponent, notably illustrated by a significant possession of the ball, the Brazilians treated their entry with a victory 3 goals to 0. Mônica opened the scoring of a header after a hazardous exit from Zhao Lina the Chinese goalkeeper, before Andressa Alves doubled the start of the second half of a volley on a cross from the Brazilian captain Marta . The latter will come out on a knee injury ten minutes before the end of the match. At the very end of the game, Cristiane scored the third Brazilian goal, beating the Chinese goalkeeper and taking the ball over the head on a free kick .

The second day begins with an already decisive meeting between South Africa and China, both beaten in their first match. Despite a start to the game that was entirely to the advantage of the South Africans, China managed to back down and obtain a few scoring chances, but did not succeed. It was not until additional time and an indirect free kick for South Africa to see China develop a victorious counterattack concluded with a goal from Gu Yasha . In the second half, the pace is much lower and the show suffers. At the 87 ^th minute of play, the Chinese playmaker Tan Ruyin sees that Roxanne Barker, the South African goalkeeper, is advanced and then tries a lob of approximately 45 meters which ends in the small net of the goal, thus allowing China to secure its victory. Thanks to this result, China is relaunching itself in the fight to reach the quarter-finals while the task becomes much more complicated for South Africa which will have to have Brazil on the last day to achieve it

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil (H)	3	2	1	0	8	1	+7	7	Quarter-finals
2	China PR	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1	4
3	Sweden	3	1	1	1	2	5	−3	4
4	South Africa	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

3 August 2016

13:00

Sweden	1–0	South Africa
Fischer  76'

Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 13,439

Referee: Teodora Albon (Romania)

3 August 2016

16:00

Brazil	3–0	China PR
Monica  36' Andressa  59' Cristiane  90'

Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 27,618

Referee: Carol Chenard (Canada)

6 August 2016

19:00

South Africa	0–2	China PR
		Gu Yasha  45+1' Tan Ruyin  87'

Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland)

6 August 2016

22:00

Brazil	5–1	Sweden
Beatriz  21', 86' Cristiane  24' Marta  44' (pen.), 80'		Schelin  89'

Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 43,384

Referee: Lucila Venegas (Mexico)

9 August 2016

22:00 (21:00 UTC–4)

South Africa	0–0	Brazil

Arena da Amazônia, Manaus

Attendance: 38,415

Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

9 August 2016

22:00

China PR	0–0	Sweden

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília

Attendance: 7,648

Referee: Olga Miranda (Paraguay)

Group F

Summary

More than 400 km from Rio at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo , the first match of Group F sees the Canada team , London 2012 bronze medalist, and Australia , returning to the Olympic Games after two failed editions. Despite the kick-off by the Australians, Canada opened the scoring in the twentieth second thanks to a resumption of the flat from the foot of Janine Beckie on a center coming from the right of captain Christine Sinclair . It was the fastest goal in the history of the Olympic Games, a record previously held by Mexican Oribe Peralta who scored in the twenty-ninth second of play in the final of the London 2012 Olympic tournament facing Brazil. Despite the start of this breathless start, the pace dropped and the faults became more numerous until the expulsion of Canadian central defender Shelina Zadorsky in the 17th minute, the fastest red card in the history of the Games. The match is therefore reversed and sees Australia dominate the game and get many opportunities to equalize. However on a counter attack in the 80 ^th minute, Christine Sinclair left the Australian defense unmoved and brought the score to 2 goals to 0 and thus sealed the victory of his team.

The second poster of group F opposes the neophytes of Zimbabwe , which participates for the first time in a world competition, with Germany , designated as being the main rival of the United States and which remains on a failure during the World Cup 2015 . Unsurprisingly, the Germans outrageously dominate the debates by creating many opportunities without, at first, managing to find the fault. In the 19 ^th minute, Simone Laudehr was forced to be replaced due to a tear in the ligament of the left ankle caused by a two shocks which will not be sanctioned by Malaysian referee Rita Gani. The injury did not stop the German momentum as only three minutes after Sara Däbritz opened the scoring before Alexandra Popp scored a second goal ten minutes before the end of the first half. Upon returning from the locker room, Zimbabwean striker Kudakwashe Bhasopo took advantage of a poor recovery from German goalkeeper Almuth Schult to reduce the gap against the course of the game. However, this goal is anecdotal since Germany immediately resumed its march forward and scored three new goals in the 53rd , 78th and 83rd minutes via Melanie Behringer twice and Melanie Leupolz . Finally in additional time, Germany took advantage of their own goal of defender Eunice Chibanda to bring the score to 6 goals to 1 and thus take first place in their group.

The first meeting of the second day pits the Canadians against the Zimbabweans. As in its first match against Australia, Canada ideally launches its match from the 7th minute thanks to the second goal in this tournament of Janine Beckie on a center of Christine Sinclair. Very influential in the game of his team, Sinclair transformed the penalty obtained by Diana Matheson and then scored the tenth goal at the Olympics of his career. At ten minutes from half time, the players of John Herdman consolidate their lead by scoring a third goal through Janine Beckie on a cross from Josée Bélanger . As in the first game, Zimbabwe is in great difficulty approaching very rarely the Canadian goal and it could have conceded a new goal in the 42 ^nd minute of play if the realization of Matheson had not been refused for an out -Game. The second period was also dominated by the North Americans who could have scored a fourth goal if Christine Sinclair had not touched the ball with her hand. Finally at the very end of the game, Mavis Chirandu manages to score the only Zimbabwean goal of the match thanks to a poor placement by the Canadian defense

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	7	2	+5	9	Quarter-finals
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	5	+4	4
3	Australia	3	1	1	1	8	5	+3	4
4	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	3	15	−12	0

3 August 2016

15:00

Canada	2–0	Australia
Beckie  1' Sinclair  80'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 20,521

Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

3 August 2016

18:00

Zimbabwe	1–6	Germany
Basopo  50'		Däbritz  22' Popp  36' Behringer  53', 78' Leupolz  83' Chibanda  90' (o.g.)

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 20,521

Referee: Rita Gani (Malaysia)

6 August 2016

15:00

Canada	3–1	Zimbabwe
Beckie  7', 35' Sinclair  19' (pen.)		Chirandu  86'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 30,295

Referee: Olga Miranda (Paraguay)

6 August 2016

18:00

Germany	2–2	Australia
Däbritz  45+2' Bartusiak  88'		Kerr  6' Foord  45'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 37,475

Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley (New Zealand)

9 August 2016

16:00

Germany	1–2	Canada
Behringer  13' (pen.)		Tancredi  26', 60'

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília

Attendance: 8,227

Referee: Ri Hyang-ok (North Korea)

9 August 2016

16:00

Australia	6–1	Zimbabwe
De Vanna  2' Polkinghorne  15' Kennedy  37' Simon  50' Heyman  55', 66'		Msipa  90+1'

Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 5,115

Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland)

Group G

Summary

It is at 7:00 p.m. at the Mineirão de Belo Horizonte that the 2015 world champions and triple holders of the American title enter the competition against New Zealand which participates for the third consecutive time in the Olympic tournament. American Favorite ideally go into the match with the opening goal at the 9 ^th minute by a resumption of the head of Carli Lloyd who is the small New Zealand goal net. However, the American women are in difficulties in front of the aggressiveness which is opposed to them and they do not manage to take the ascendancy. Despite the second American goal at the start of the second period scored by Alex Morgan, the match is chopped up by faults and lacks considerably of rhythm. The United States won without shining against a valiant team from New Zealand, which however did not manage to worry its opponent.

At the end of this first day of competition, the French team , the third in the world, which aims to clinch its first international podium at these Games despite a weakened workforce faces Colombia which had managed to beat it during the first round from the 2015 World Cup. The blue ones take an ideal start in this meeting since from the 2 ^nd minute on a center of Eugenie Le Sommer , the Colombian defender Carolina Ariasis forced to divert the ball for its own purpose. Largely domineering and showing an aggressiveness clearly superior to that of her South American opponent, the French offer themselves a second goal in the quarter of an hour on a close range recovery from Eugénie Le Sommer after a strike from ' Amandine Henry pushed away by the crossbar. Just before half time, Camille Abily scored a goal on a direct free kick allowing the French to lead 3 goals to 0 at the break. Back from the locker room, the intense domination of Philippe Bergeroo's players continues and results in a fourth goal scored by Amel Majri in the 80 ^thminute always on free kick. France, very little concerned defensively, takes the lead in group G before the shock of the next day against the United States

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	Quarter-finals
2	France	3	2	0	1	7	1	+6	6
3	New Zealand	3	1	0	2	1	5	−4	3
4	Colombia	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1

3 August 2016

19:00

United States	2–0	New Zealand
Lloyd  9' Morgan  46'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 10,059

Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)

3 August 2016

22:00

France	4–0	Colombia
C. Arias  2' (o.g.) Le Sommer  14' Abily  42' Majri  82'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 6,847

Referee: Ri Hyang-ok (North Korea)

6 August 2016

17:00

United States	1–0	France
Lloyd  64'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 11,782

Referee: Claudia Umpierrez (Uruguay)

6 August 2016

20:00

Colombia	0–1	New Zealand
		Hearn  31'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 8,505

Referee: Gladys Lengwe (Zambia)

9 August 2016

19:00 (18:00 UTC–4)

Colombia	2–2	United States
C. Usme  26', 90'		C. Dunn  41' Pugh  59'

Arena da Amazônia, Manaus

Attendance: 30,557

Referee: Teodora Albon (Romania)

9 August 2016

19:00

New Zealand	0–3	France
		Le Sommer  38' Cadamuro  63', 90+2' (pen.)

Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 7,350

Referee: Lucila Venegas (Mexico)

Final ranking

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
	Germany	6	4	1	1	14	6	+8	13	Gold Medal
	Sweden	6	1	3	2	4	8	−4	6	Silver Medal
	Canada	6	5	0	1	10	5	+5	15	Bronze Medal
4	Brazil (H)	6	2	3	1	9	3	+6	9	Fourth place
5	United States	4	2	2	0	6	3	+3	8	Eliminated in quarter-finals
6	France	4	2	0	2	7	2	+5	6
7	Australia	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3	5
8	China PR	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	4
9	New Zealand	3	1	0	2	1	5	−4	3	Eliminated in group stage
10	South Africa	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1
11	Colombia	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1
12	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	3	15	−12	0

Goalscorers

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal