Football at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

Sixteen teams qualified for the men's Olympic football tournament. In addition to host nation Japan, 15 men's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations.^[1]

Table

Means of qualification	Ref.	Dates¹	Venue(s)¹	Berth(s)	Qualified
Host nation	^[2]	—	—	1	Japan
2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship	^[3]	16–30 June 2019	Italy San Marino	4	Spain Germany France Romania
2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament	^[4]	21 September – 5 October 2019	Fiji	1	New Zealand
2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations	^[5]	8–22 November 2019	Egypt	3	Egypt Ivory Coast South Africa
2020 AFC U-23 Championship	^[6]	8–26 January 2020	Thailand	3	South Korea Saudi Arabia Australia
2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament	^[7]	18 January – 9 February 2020	Colombia	2	Argentina Brazil
2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship	^[8]	18–30 March 2021	Mexico	2	Mexico Honduras
Total				16

^1 Dates and venues are those of final tournaments (or final round of qualification tournaments), various qualification stages may precede matches at these specific venues.

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Italy	Hosts	9 December 2016	20th	2017 (semi-finals)	Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Spain	Group 2 winners	6 September 2018	14th	2017 (runners-up)	Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013)
France	Group 9 winners	7 September 2018	9th	2006 (semi-finals)	Champions (1988)
England^[GBR]	Group 4 winners	11 October 2018	15th	2017 (semi-finals)	Champions (1982, 1984)
Serbia	Group 7 winners	12 October 2018	11th^[SRB]	2017 (group stage)	Champions (1978) (as Yugoslavia)^[SRB]
Germany	Group 5 winners	12 October 2018	12th	2017 (champions)	Champions (2009, 2017)
Croatia	Group 1 winners	15 October 2018	3rd	2004 (group stage)	Group stage (2000, 2004)
Denmark	Group 3 winners	16 October 2018	8th	2017 (group stage)	Semi-finals (1992, 2015)
Belgium	Group 6 winners	16 October 2018	3rd	2007 (semi-finals)	Semi-finals (2007)
Romania	Group 8 winners	16 October 2018	2nd	1998 (quarter-finals)	Quarter-finals (1998)
Poland	Play-off winners	20 November 2018	7th	2017 (group stage)	Quarter-finals (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1994)
Austria	Play-off winners	20 November 2018	1st	—	Debut

Notes

^
The constituent countries of the UK are represented individually at FIFA (and, thus, UEFA) tournaments, but together at the Olympics. While in the women's competition, the football associations of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland allowed their players to compete as Great Britain in the Olympics, they did not in the men's, with the concern that it would threaten their independence in other competitions. While England's position would qualify a Great Britain team, the football associations refused to be represented. Great Britain did not send either a women's or men's football team to the 2016 Olympics, due to the same issue, though contested the event with both teams at home in 2012.^[9]
^ ^{a b}
Appearances include 4 as Yugoslavia and 2 as Serbia and Montenegro. Their previous best performance as Serbia was runners-up (2007).

2019 OFC Men's Olympic qualifying tournament

2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations

Qualified teams

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance
Egypt (hosts)	3rd	Third place (2011)
Cameroon	1st	Debut
Ghana	1st	Debut
Ivory Coast	2nd	Group stage (2011)
Mali	2nd	Group stage (2015)
Nigeria	3rd	Champions (2015)
South Africa	3rd	Third place (2015)
Zambia	2nd	Group stage (2015)

2020 AFC U-23 Championship

Qualified teams

Team	Qualified as	Appearance	Previous best performance
Thailand	Hosts	3rd	Group stage (2016, 2018)
Qatar	Group A winners	3rd	Third place (2018)
Bahrain	Group B winners	1st	Debut
Iraq	Group C winners	4th	Champions (2013)
United Arab Emirates	Group D winners	3rd	Quarter-finals (2013, 2016)
Jordan	Group E winners	4th	Third place (2013)
Uzbekistan	Group F winners	4th	Champions (2018)
North Korea	Group G winners	4th	Quarter-finals (2016)
South Korea	Group H winners	4th	Runners-up (2016)
Japan	Group I winners	4th	Champions (2016)
China	Group J winners	4th	Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018)
Vietnam	Group K winners	3rd	Runners-up (2018)
Australia	Group H runners-up^{[note 1]}	4th	Quarter-finals (2013)
Iran	Group C runners-up^{[note 1]}	3rd	Quarter-finals (2016)
Syria	Group E runners-up^{[note 1]}	4th	Quarter-finals (2013)
Saudi Arabia	Group D runners-up^{[note 1]}	4th	Runners-up (2013)

Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament

2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship

Qualified teams

Team	Qualification zone	Appearance	Previous best performance	Previous men's Olympic appearances
Canada	North America (automatic)	9th	Runner-up (1984, 1996)	3
Mexico (hosts & title holders)	North America (automatic)	12th	Winner (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004, 2012, 2015)	11
United States	North America (automatic)	11th	Winner (1988, 1992)	14
Costa Rica	Central America	7th	Winner (1980, 1984)	3
El Salvador	Central America	12th	Third Place (2012)	1
Honduras	Central America	10th	Winner (2000, 2008)	4
Dominican Republic	Caribbean	1st	Debutant	0
Haiti	Caribbean	3rd	Group stage (2008, 2015)	0

References

^ "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017.
^ FIFA.com. "Olympic Football Tournaments 2020 - Men - News - The road to Tokyo". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
^ "Under-21 EURO 2019: all you need to know". uefa.com. 16 October 2018.
^ "Olympic Qualifier Draw complete". Oceania Football Confederation. 7 May 2019.
^ "CAF confirms 2019 Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt will be played in November". Ghana Soccernet. 29 September 2018.
^ "FA Thailand proposed as 2020 AFC U-23 Championship host". AFC. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
^ "Colombia será sede del Campeonato Sudamericano Preolímpico Sub-23 del 2020". conmebol.com. 14 August 2018.
^ "Concacaf confirms Guadalajara to host Men's Olympic Qualifiers in March 2021". CONCACAF. 14 January 2021.
^ "Why there is a Team GB women's football team at Tokyo 2020 but not a men's one". iNews. 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-07-22.

[cnote_GBR] 
The constituent countries of the UK are represented individually at FIFA (and, thus, UEFA) tournaments, but together at the Olympics. While in the women's competition, the football associations of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland allowed their players to compete as Great Britain in the Olympics, they did not in the men's, with the concern that it would threaten their independence in other competitions. While England's position would qualify a Great Britain team, the football associations refused to be represented. Great Britain did not send either a women's or men's football team to the 2016 Olympics, due to the same issue, though contested the event with both teams at home in 2012.^[9]

[cnote_SRB] ^{a b}
Appearances include 4 as Yugoslavia and 2 as Serbia and Montenegro. Their previous best performance as Serbia was runners-up (2007).

[runners-up-10] The four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

[distribution-1] "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017.

[2] FIFA.com. "Olympic Football Tournaments 2020 - Men - News - The road to Tokyo". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-14.

[3] "Under-21 EURO 2019: all you need to know". uefa.com. 16 October 2018.

[4] "Olympic Qualifier Draw complete". Oceania Football Confederation. 7 May 2019.

[5] "CAF confirms 2019 Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt will be played in November". Ghana Soccernet. 29 September 2018.

[6] "FA Thailand proposed as 2020 AFC U-23 Championship host". AFC. Retrieved 30 August 2018.

[7] "Colombia será sede del Campeonato Sudamericano Preolímpico Sub-23 del 2020". conmebol.com. 14 August 2018.

[8] "Concacaf confirms Guadalajara to host Men's Olympic Qualifiers in March 2021". CONCACAF. 14 January 2021.

[9] "Why there is a Team GB women's football team at Tokyo 2020 but not a men's one". iNews. 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-07-22.

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[note 1]

Football at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Qualification
	men	women
Tournament
	men	women
Squads
	men	women
v t e