Paris Olympics 2024: Which national football teams (men's) have qualified for the Olympics?

A total of 16 U-23 National football teams will go against each other in the grandest stage of world sports, the Summer Olympics in Paris. The Paris Olympics 2024 will start on 26 July and continue till 11 August. While France being the host nation have already qualified for the Men's Football competition; Brazil, the defending champions will not take part in the Paris Olympics after being knocked out by Argentina in the final stage of the CONMEBOL pre-Olympic tournament.

Here is everything you need to know about the qualification process of the Men's football teams in the Paris Olympics 2024.

How many football teams will feature in the Paris Olympics?

A total of 16 football national under-23 teams from six continental confederations will qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024. France have already qualified as the host nation and for the remaining 15 spots, AFC and CAF each received 3.5 slots, UEFA received 3 slots, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL received 2 slots, and the OFC received 1 slot.

Also Read: Top 10 Indian-origin footballers who could represent India, if OCI and PIO players were permitted

Which national football teams have already qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024?

Host: France

CONCACAF: United States, Dominican Republic

UEFA: Spain, Israel, Ukraine

CAF: Morocco, Egypt, Mali

OFC: New Zealand

CONMEBOL: Argentina, Paraguay

AFC: To be determined 

How the teams have qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024?

Dominian Republic and USA qualified via the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship

Dominican Republic Men's Football team ensured their first-ever Olympic birth via a historic runners-up title at the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. They were beaten by the United States in the final by 6-0. This was USA's third CONCACAF U-20 Championship title. The win ensured the USA Men's Football team's first Olympic birth since 2008.

UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023 saw three teams qualify

Spain, Israel and Ukraine qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 via UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023. Though England won their third U-21 Euro Championship by defeating Spain in the final by 1-0; they were not considered for the quota since an English team cannot participate in Olympic qualification for Great Britain due to there being no agreements between the associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Spain qualified for the Summer Games being the runners-up while Israel and Ukraine qualified as the other semi-finalists in the tournament.

Also Read: Jordan 100, Qatar 98, India 97: Two teams ranked below India in 2018, will be playing AFC Asian Cup 2023 final

Morocco, Egypt and Mali qualified from CAF

The 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations saw Morocco, Egypt and Mali qualify for the Paris Olympics. Since the Confederation of African Football had only 3.5 slots available, finalists Morocco and Egypt qualified along with bronze medalists Mali who had defeated Guinea in the third-place match to earn their spot in the Olympics 2024.

Morocco defeated Egypt in the final by 2–1 to win their first-ever U23 Africa Cup of Nations title.

New Zealand booked their place via 2023 OFC Men's Olympic qualifying tournament

New Zealand qualified as the lone team from the Oceania Football Confederation after beating Fiji in the final of the 2023 OFC Men's Olympic qualifying tournament by a historic 9-0. Riley Bidois scored five goals in the final as the New Zealand team defended their title successfully. 

Argentina and Paraguay en route to Paris

Argentina and Paraguay qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after both teams topped the final stage of the 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament. Two groups of five teams each first played in a round-robin format to qualify for the final round. The two best teams from each group qualified for the final round (round-robin format) and eventually two best teams for the final round qualified for the Paris Olympics.

Argentina defeated Brazil by 1-0 to finish as the runner-up while Paraguay defeated hosts Venezuela by 2-0 in their final game to become the Winner of the 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament.

2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup to decided three spots

The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup will decide the three of the four teams for the Paris Olympics 2024. The tournament will start on 15 April 2024 in Qatar. The final will be played on 3 May 2024. Two finalists and the third-place winner will qualify for the Paris Olympics from this tournament.

AFC–CAF play-off will decide the final spot

AFC–CAF play-off will determine the final spot for the Men's Football competition in the Summer Olympics 2024. Since both AFC and CAF have 3.5 slots each, a knockout face-off between the fourth-placed team of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, which is Guinea and the fourth-placed team AFC U-23 Asian Cup, which is yet to be decided.