Knockout bracket for the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics
On Saturday, August 3rd, the eight remaining teams in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be reduced to the four medal contenders once that day’s quarterfinals concludes.
Among the teams still standing are the United States Women’s National Team, who topped their group for only the second time at the Olympics, and will face off against Japan for the fourth time in an Olympics knockout match. Spain, the reigning Women’s World Cup champions, are looking to win their first Olympic gold medal. Meanwhile, the current gold medal holders, Canada, despite their 6 point deduction, made it through to knockout phase and will face the 2016 gold medalists, Germany. Also in the hunt are both South American sides: Brazil, who will be without Marta due to a red card suspension, and Colombia, who are hoping to advance to their first Olympic semifinal. Host France, buoyed by the goal-scoring of Marie-Antoinette Katoto, are still looking to win their first major championship.
The final day of group play more-or-less went as expected, except for Marta earning a straight red for a reckless lunging kick that narrowly missed striking Spain’s Olga Carmona in the cheek.
France, thanks to Canada’s points deduction, the USA, and Spain all won their groups, while Canada, Germany, and Japan advanced as the runners-up in their respective groups. Colombia and Brazil advanced as the higher-ranked third-place teams. Australia, as the lowest third-ranked team, along with New Zealand, Zambia, and Nigeria were eliminated from the competition.
Going into the final six matches of the group stage in the women’s soccer tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics, only the United States Women’s National Team and Spain have secured a spot in the knock-out phase. Six slots have yet to be determined and none of the other ten teams have been mathematically eliminated.
The second day of group stage matches in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one to remember:
The USWNT had their best performances against Germany ever at an Olympics, defeating the two-time Women’s World Cup champions 4:1.
Japan had a 2:1 comeback victory against Brazil, which was capped by an awe-inspiring long-distance chip by second-half sub Momoko Tanikawa.
Canada is still in the hunt for a knock-out slot thanks to their 2:1 come-from-behind victory over host France, with the game-winning goal scored by Vanessa Gilles 12 minutes deep into second-half stoppage time.
Oh, And Australia came from three goals down in the second half to defeat Zambia 6:5!
Wednesday evening, TSN’s senior correspondent, Rick Westhead, published an eye-opening article detailing past drone spying by the staff of the Canadian Women’s National Team that dates back to at least the (2021) Tokyo Summer Olympics, where Canada won gold.
The allegations in the article indicate that the drone spying against New Zealand could be a “tip of the iceberg” situation, and greatly increases the probability that Canada Soccer, Canada’s WNT, and some of the WNT’s coaching and support staff could be facing significant sanctions in the days and months to come.
Other news from Wednesday include the suspension of head coach Bev Priestman as well as an official statement from FIFA that its Disciplinary Committee has opened official investigations.
The first day of group play in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympic saw no upsets, with all six matches ending in victories for the higher-ranked teams.
The USWNT had one of the easiest matches, thanks to a strong first half where Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson combined for three goals, with Swanson bagging a brace by scoring goals just 66 seconds apart (OptaJack x.com post). A VAR-upgraded 30th minute red card shown to Pauline Zulu reduced Zambia to 10 players. While the USWNT was unable to extend the lead after the red card, their defense did hold the speedy Barbra Banda and Zambia scoreless.
On Tuesday, July 23rd, news broke that an unnamed “staff member” for the Canadian Women’s National Team was caught using a camera drone to surveil a closed-door practice of the New Zealand Women’s National Team.
A day later, several more facts have come to light about this incident, but a number of key questions remain unanswered.
In previous years, before a tournament, FIFA typically publishes a document with historical statistics for that tournament as well as comparative statistics for each team competing in the tournament. I have not found a public version of such a document for this year’s Olympics tournament.
For a spreadsheet version of the above squads list, with additional columns, see this Google Sheets file: 2024 Summer Olympics – Squad Lists. Each team is on a separate sheet. The columns for each team can be sorted and/or filtered.
(Updated on 8-Aug-2024: The gold medal match will air live on NBC. The bronze medal match will be streaming-only for the English-language commentary.)
While the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics do not officially begin until the Opening Ceremonies get underway on Friday, July 26th, the women’s soccer tournament kicks off on Thursday, July 25th.
As in years past, all soccer matches will available to watch live, though some will only be viewable via streaming.
The good news for those without cable or another TV provider is that all matches will be available for streaming live through NBC’s Peacock app for only a $7.99/month subscription.
Women's Soccer Express 