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  • Writer's pictureWomen in Football

A few fast facts about the #Tokyo2020 Football Tournament

With the #Tokyo2020 Olympics just days away, we thought we'd give a brief guide to the football tournament.


As always, the football tournament (as with softball) gets underway before the official Opening Ceremony on Friday July 23. Fortunately, this year we get to see both the Olyroos and Matildas in action at the Olympics for the first time since Beijing 2008.


For those who are not aware, the Olyroos are our men's Under-23 side as the Olympic Football Tournament is an Under-23 competition for men, with squads permitted three over-age players. The reason for this is because FIFA wanted to safeguard the position of its own World Cup relative to the Olympic Games. The first Under-23 Olympic competition took place in 1992.


The Gold Medal matches will be held on August 6th (women) and August 7th (men).



WOMEN


Countries participating (current rankings):

  • Group E: Canada (8), Chile (37), Great Britain (6)^, Japan (10)

  • Group F: Brazil (7), China (15), Netherlands (4), Zambia (104)

  • Group G: Australia (9), New Zealand (22), Sweden (5), USA (1)

^ England is ranked 6th


Australia's group matches:

  • Wednesday July 21: Australia vs New Zealand, 9.30pm AEST

  • Saturday July 24: Sweden vs Australia, 6.30pm AEST

  • Tuesday July 27: USA vs Australia, 6pm AEST

All on the Seven Network.


Matildas squad:

  • Goalkeepers: Lydia Williams, Teagan Micah, Mackenzie Arnold.

  • Defenders: Clare Polkinghorne, Alanna Kennedy, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter, Aivi Luik, Laura Brock, Charlotte Grant, Courtney Nevin.

  • Midfielders: Elise Kellond-Knight, Emily van Egmond, Tameka Yallop, Chloe Logarzo, Kyra Cooney-Cross.

  • Forwards: Kyah Simon, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Emily Gielnik, Mary Fowler.

Besides the Matildas, other players to watch in the tournament:

  • Lucy Bronze, Great Britain

  • Jessie Fleming, Canada

  • Mana Iwabuchi, Japan

  • Rose Lavelle, USA

  • Samantha Mewis, USA

  • Vivianne Miedema, Netherlands

  • Meikayla Moore, New Zealand

  • Caroline Seger, Sweden

 

MEN


Countries participating:

  • 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, Côte d'Ivoire, Saudi Arabia

There are no FIFA rankings for Under-23 teams


Australia's group matches:

  • Thursday July 22: Argentina vs Australia, 8.30pm AEST

  • Sunday July 25: Australia vs Spain, 8.30pm AEST

  • Wednesday July 28: Australia vs Egypt, 9pm AEST

All on the Seven Network.

Olyroos squad:

  • Goalkeepers: Tom Glover, Ashley Maynard-Brewer, Jordan Holmes.

  • Defenders: Nathaniel Atkinson, Thomas Deng, Joel King, Kye Rowles, Harry Souttar, Jay Rich-Baghuelou.

  • Midfielders: Keanu Baccus, Denis Genreau, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe, Dylan Pierias, Caleb Watts, Cameron Devlin, Marco Tillo.

  • Forwards: Daniel Arzani, Nicholas D’Agostino, Mitchell Duke*, Reno Piscopo, Lachlan Wales.

* Over-age player


Besides the Olyroos, other players to watch in the tournament:

  • Thiago Almada, Argentina

  • Antony, Brazil

  • Eric Bailly, Côte d'Ivoire

  • Arne Maier, Germany

  • Mikel Merino, Spain

  • Florian Thauvin, France

  • Chris Wood, New Zealand

  • Lee Kang-In, South Korea



The Rio 2016 winners (seems so long ago!): Germany and Brazil. The German women did not qualify this time around.

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