FIFA announces draw seedings for Rio 2016 Olympic football tournaments
The 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams will find out who they will face when the groups are drawn at the Maracanã Stadium next week
Despite having Neymar in their team, Brazil lost to Mexico in the final of the London 2012 Games (Getty Images/Julian Finney)
FIFA has announced details of the group seedings for the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournaments. The draw will take place on Thursday (14 April) at the Maracanã Stadium, which will host the women’s and men’s finals on 19 and 20 August.
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The men’s tournament will feature 16 teams in four groups of four. For the draw, the teams have been divided into four pots based on a ranking according to previous Olympic performances, which has produced the unlikely sight of world champions Germany in the lowest-ranked pot. A German team has not competed at an Olympic football tournament since Seoul 1988, when West Germany took bronze.
Men’s draw
Pot 1: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan
Pot 2: Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Honduras, Iraq
Pot 3: Sweden, Fiji, Portugal, South Africa
Pot 4: Algeria, Colombia, Denmark, Germany
One team from each pot will be drawn into each group – A, B, C and D – although FIFA’s general principle, for the men’s and women’s tournaments, is to ensure that no group has more than one team from the same continental confederation. The top-two placed teams in each of the men’s groups will proceed to the quarter-finals.
Read the full draw procedures for the men's and women's tournaments
Carli Lloyd (left) celebrates her first goal as the USA beat Japan 2-1 in the London 2012 final (Photo: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez)
The 12 women’s teams will also be split into four pots, based on the world rankings released on 25 March. They will be drawn into three groups of four (E, F and G), with the top two from each of the women’s groups, plus the two best third-placed teams, proceeding to the quarter-finals.
Women’s draw
Pot 1: Brazil, USA, Germany
Pot 2: France, Australia, Sweden
Pot 3: Canada, China, New Zealand
Pot 4: Colombia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
See the pre-draw match schedule for the men's and women's tournaments
The Olympic football tournaments will be staged in seven stadiums in six cities – the Olympic Stadium will join the Maracanã in hosting matches in Rio de Janeiro, while the following stadiums will be used in the co-host cities: Amazônia Arena (Manaus), Corinthians Arena (São Paulo), Fonte Nova Arena (Salvador), Mané Garrincha Stadium (Brasília) and Mineirão (Belo Horizonte).
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