Football

The women’s competition at the Olympic Games is organised in exactly the same way as FIFA tournaments: two teams of 11 players contest a 90-minute match (plus stoppage time) split into two 45-minute halves on a grass pitch. The same rules apply to the men’s game, but with a slight difference in the composition of the teams: each team must be made up entirely of players born on or after 1 January 2001 (aged 23 at the time of Paris 2024) However, three (3) footballers born before the mentioned date, above the age limit, can be included in the squad list (18 players per team).

Football is also one of the few sports at the Games where the tournament starts before the opening ceremony due to the number of matches; since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the football tournament has started two days before the Games are officially opened.

OLYMPIC HISTORY

Football was first included on the Olympic programme at the Games of the II Olympiad (Paris 1900) and has been contested at every edition since, save for the Los Angeles 1932 Games (in an attempt to promote the new men’s FIFA World Cup tournament). 

Women’s football made its Olympic debut at the Atlanta Games in 1996. The USA has finished on top of the podium multiple times, including at Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Germany won gold at Rio 2016, while Canada are the defending Olympic champions after triumphing at Tokyo 2020.

Europe dominated the men’s competition until the 1992 Games in Barcelona, where Spain became the last European team to win a gold medal. Since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, African and Latin American teams have won every gold medal, with Brazil repeating as Olympic champions at Tokyo 2020.

Many footballing greats have taken part in the Olympic Games, including Ferenc Puskás in 1952, Lev Yashin in 1956, Samuel Eto’o in 2000, Lionel Messi in 2008, Neymar in 2012 and 2016, Marta in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020, and Alex Morgan in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Football Terminology

Kick off: A method of starting play at the start of each half or restarting play after a goal is scored. With teams assembled in their own half, one team kicks the ball from the centre point of the halfway line.

Throw in: A method of restarting play when the ball crosses the touchline on either side of the field. A player from the team not responsible for putting the ball out of play stands behind the touchline and throws the ball two-handed from behind their head back into play.

Corner kick and goal kick: Methods of restarting play when the ball crosses the goal line at either end of the field without a goal being scored. If the attacking team touched the ball last, the defending team restarts play from the six yard box within their goal area. If the defending team touched the ball last, the attacking team restarts play from the corner of the field.

Free kick: A free kick is awarded when a foul is called by the referee. Indirect free kicks occur after certain minor transgressions or technical infringements (e.g. offsides) while direct free kicks are awarded for more careless, reckless or excessive breaches of the laws of the game. Players may score directly from a direct free kick, but for an indirect free kick the ball must be touched by another player before a goal can be scored.

Yellow card: Shown by the referee to a player to communicate a caution, often for unsporting behaviour or persistent infringement of the laws of the game.

Red card: Shown by the referee to a player to send them from the field. A red card is shown when a player receives a second yellow card in the same match or for certain offences like serious foul play, illegally denying a clear goal scoring opportunity or violent conduct. A red-carded player must leave the field for the rest of the match.

Time added on, aka ‘injury time’: The referee has the discretion to add time lost during the match for injuries and other stoppages on to the end of each half. This is commonly between one and five minutes each half.

Extra time: In knock-out matches where a clear winner must be found, extra time (two 15-minute periods) is played after a match where the scores are level after full-time.

Penalty kick: Often just referred to as a penalty, this occurs when a foul worthy of a direct free kick is committed in the defending team’s penalty area. With the goalkeeper standing on their line, an attacker kicks the ball from a spot 12 yards (11m) away. Because of this proximity, penalty kicks are scored more often than not.

Penalty shoot-out: Used when extra time is not successful in finding a winner in a drawn knock-out match. Beginning with five players each, teams have turns taking penalty kicks to find a winner. If there is no clear winner at, or before, the completion of five kicks each, the shoot-out continues with an additional one kick each until a winner is found. In rare circumstances, teams may be forced to cycle through their players again before a winner is found.

Offside: Arguably the most confusing and debated rule of football and one intended to prevent attackers gaining an unfair advantage over defenders. A player is in an offside position if they are nearer to their opponent’s goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent when the ball is played by a team-mate. You cannot be offside in your own half or if not actively involved in play.

VAR: Video assistant referee system, designed to help referees make decisions in incidents that could be game-changing: to determine whether a potential infringement means a goal scored cannot be awarded, when there is a penalty decision to be made, and in incidents that could potentially pead to a direct red card. It can also be used in cases of mistaken identity for cautions or sending offs. VAR works by the referee informing the VAR, or the VAR recommends to the referee that a decision/incident should be reviewed. The video footage is reviewed by the VAR, who advises the referee via headset what the video shows. The referee then decides to review the video footage on the side of the field of play before taking the appropriate action/decision, or the referee accepts the information from the VAR and takes the appropriate action/decision. 

Timeline

1857       First football club formed in Great Britain

1872       First international game took place in Scotland

1900       Football introduced to the Olympics, and, with the exception of 1932, has been played at every Games since.

1904       New Zealand teams playing Australia

1922       New Zealand played its first full international match.

1930       FIFA World Cup finals first contested - held every four years thereafter

1984       Professional players allowed to play at the Olympics (with certain restrictions)

1991       FIFA Women’s World Cup introduced - now the largest female worldwide sporting event

1996       Women’s football included in the Olympics for the first time at the Atlanta Games

2008       New Zealand first qualified for the Olympics, with the help of Australia moving from the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian equivalent