With the 2021 Olympic football tournament set to kick off on Thursday 22nd July and run until 7th August, football betting fans are already thinking of the teams to wager on. The men’s football competitions will be staged across seven venues – Rifu, Kashima, Saitama, Tokyo, Sapporo, and Yokohama, with the final game hosted at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
16 teams participating in the tournament are split into four groups, with Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and France placed in Group A. Group B will include South Korea, New Zealand, Romania, and Honduras, while Group C will feature the 1992 champions – Spain, two-time gold medalists – Argentina, Australia, and Egypt. Defending champions – Brazil, Ivory Coast, Germany, and Saudi Arabia will be clubbed in Group D.
Great Britain and Hungary are the most successful teams in the Olympics, having won gold three times each. However, after winning the 2016 Rio Olympics at home, Brazil is ready to defend its crown in Tokyo.
The Women’s competition will kick off on 23rd August, following its inclusion in the Olympic games in 1996. This year, the women’s tournament will start with 12 teams in the group stages, leaving a total of eight teams in the competition after elimination. These eight teams will proceed to the quarterfinals and start the knockout rounds.
These 12 teams have been split into three groups (E, F, and G). That means the top two squads in every group will automatically qualify for the quarterfinals alongside two of the best third-placed teams. Unfortunately, the reigning champions, Germany won’t be able to defend their title this year after failing to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Germans were eliminated from the race in 2019 during the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women World Cup. However, all the four semi-finalists qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
The round-robin matches in the group stage will include three points for every win, one point for a draw, and no point for a loss. Teams will be ranked based on the points accrued, with the first tiebreaker based on goal difference and the second is based on goals scored. However, if the teams still tie after the second tiebreaker, there will be another predetermined criterion.
The top eight squads will proceed to the quarterfinals, after which four teams will advance to the semifinals before the medal matches. That means the top two squads from every group will move to the quarterfinals with two top third-place finishers. However, there won’t be any age restrictions like in the Men’s competition where all players must be over 23 years.