Every four years, football’s Olympic gold is up for grabs as teams from around the world battle to become Olympic champions. But Great Britain’s history in the competition is limited, and certainly not befitting for the home of modern football.
Indeed, there will be no Team GB footballers – men or women – competing in Paris this summer. For the men, this is very much the norm, as Great Britain has not qualified for an Olympic Games on foreign soil since the Rome Olympics of 1960.
So why are Team GB footballers absent from the Games? There are reasons both sporting and political meaning there are no players of the national sport at the Olympics once again.
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ByStephan Georgiou 2012's Team GB was a one-off London 2012 saw first GB teams to enter Olympics since 1972
The main reason Team GB has not featured at the Olympic Games is they simply choose not to enter a team. Representing Great Britain brings with it constitutional issues, as while other nations can call players up, merging the four countries that make up Great Britain has proved complex and divisive.
Of course, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland typically compete separately in FIFA competitions, so when Team GB fielded football teams at the London Olympics in 2012, it was the first time they had entered an Olympic competition since 1972, where they failed to qualify after losing 5-1 on aggregate to Bulgaria in a play-off qualifier.
At that time, the Olympic tournament was only open to non-professional players – even now, the men’s tournament is primarily for under-23 players (with three allowed exemptions). The FA stopped recognising amateur players in the 1970s, and bar 2012, a GB football team has not been entered since.
Year
Stage reached
1900
Winners
1904
Did not enter
1908
Winners
1912
Winners
1920
First round
1924-1928
Did not enter
1936
Quarter-finals
1948
Fourth place
1952
Preliminary round
1956
Quarter-finals
1960
Group stage
1964-1972
Failed to qualify
1976-2008
Did not enter
2012
Quarter-finals
2016-2024
Did not enter
In contrast, the women’s tournament (which was only added to the roster in 1996) has no participating restrictions, meaning all the top players can be expected to feature, though 2012 was the first time a GB team was entered. Unlike in the men’s game, the women represented GB in Tokyo last time out, before failing to qualify earlier this year.
In 2012, the non-English nations had initially indicated they would not take part in a men’s GB team, mainly over concerns it would diminish their respective standings and threaten their futures as independent football nations under FIFA (which later allayed these concerns). In the end, a handful of Welsh players were selected, while Scottish and Welsh players have been included in the women’s team for the 2012 and 2020 Games.
As for 2024, the only team to enter the competition was the women’s team. Complexities inevitably arose with qualification, with GB’s fate resting with England.
The Lionesses needed to win their Nations League group to qualify for the finals, and were put in the interesting position of needing to overhaul Netherlands’ goal difference on the last matchday – while playing a Scotland team whose players would stand a chance of Olympic football if they lost by a big enough margin.
Despite a 6-0 win over the Scots – who had to vehemently deny accusations of going easy on England – two stoppage-time goals from the Netherlands against Belgium sent the Oranje to the final round, where they missed out on an Olympics spot to Germany.
In short, we can expect Team GB to go for Olympic glory at the LA Games in 2028, but the prospects of a men’s team making a return seem pretty thin on the ground.
For European nations, qualification for the men's tournament is decided through performance at the Under-21 European Championship. Having won the tournament last year, England would ordinarily have qualified for the Olympics, though without prior arrangement over how qualifying the Great Britain side would work, the other semi-finalists were granted the three European berths, with France qualifying automatically as hosts.
Therefore, despite all the controversy a GB team brings to the home nations, the matter essentially lies with the FA’s lack of desire to make arrangements with FIFA and enter a men’s team.
Year
Gold medallists
Great Britain performance
1996
United States
n/a
2000
Norway
n/a
2004
United States
n/a
2008
United States
n/a
2012
United States
Quarter-finals
2016
Germany
n/a
2020
Canada
Failed to qualify
Football at the 2024 Olympic Games Henry’s France and Emma Hayes’ US among favourites to win gold
Men’s football
16 teams will take part in the men’s tournament, featuring four groups of four teams. The top two sides in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. Each team has 18 players, three of whom are allowed to be aged over 23 (as of the beginning of 2024).
Argentina will be going for a record-equalling third Olympic gold, having won in 2004 and 2008. Spain were runners-up in 2021 after an extra-time defeat to Brazil, who won’t be defending their title – ensuring new gold medallists for the first time since 2012.
Hosts France – managed by Thierry Henry – last won gold in 1984 and had only qualified twice since then, reaching the quarter-finals in 1996 and exiting the group stage in Tokyo.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
France
Argentina
Uzbekistan
Japan
United States
Morocco
Spain
Paraguay
Guinea
Iraq
Egypt
Mali
New Zealand
Ukraine
Dominican Republic
Israel
Fixtures:
Group stage – 24th-30th July
Quarter-finals – 2nd August
Semi-finals – 5th August
Bronze medal match – 8th August
Gold medal match – 9th August
Women’s football
With no age restrictions on playing squads, women’s football is considered a top-level tournament at the Olympics. 12 teams are competing in three groups of four, with the top two in each group and the two best third-placed teams making the quarter-finals.
France have been drawn with reigning champions Canada in the group stage, while Emma Hayes’ United States will face stern tests from Germany and Australia. Meanwhile, Group C features world champions Spain as well as heavyweights Japan and Brazil, all of whom will be searching for a first Olympic gold.
Group A
Group B
Group C
France
United States
Spain
Colombia
Zambia
Japan
Canada
Germany
Nigeria
New Zealand
Australia
Brazil
Fixtures:
Group stage – 25th-31st July
Quarter-finals – 3rd August
Semi-finals – 6th August
Bronze medal match – 9th August
Gold medal match – 10th August