What is the schedule for the football at the Olympics?
We've got another feast of football coming up as France hosts the men's and women's Olympics football tournaments
![Antony celebrates with his gold medal after Brazil's win over Spain in the final of the men's football tournament at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WgM8ChMy6YqWLmmn7HfzpH-320-80.jpg)
France will play host to a pair of intriguing football tournaments as part of the Olympic Summer Games this year, with kick-off in the football set for Wednesday 24th July.
16 men's teams and 12 women's teams will face off to determine the medalists in each tournament, each starting with a group stage before turning into a straight knockout campaign.
If you're keen to take in every second of it... well, you're going to need to dual-screen it during the group stage, we're afraid. But don't worry: here's every kick-off time so you don't want to miss a kick at the Olympics.
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Olympics 2024 football schedule explained
Unlike most summer tournaments, which like to spread out as much as possible to ensure there are games on each day, football the Olympics is just one small part of an entire events programme and a premium is put on getting things done in a time-efficient way - especially as there are actually two tournaments running side by side.
That means that the men’s and women’s tournaments will play all their games in each stage (group game 1, group game 2, group game 3, quarter-finals, semi-final, bronze medal game and final) across one day apiece.
In the interests of brevity: the same stage of women’s tournament will be played the day after the men’s equivalent in the same time slots, the exception being that there are no 3pm kick-offs for the women in the group stage as there are only three groups (not four, as in the men’s tournament). The only time we get a men's game on the same day as a women's game is on Friday August 9, when the men's final and women's bronze will both take place.
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The group games for the men’s tournament will be held on Wednesday July 24, Saturday July 27 and Tuesday July 30, with two kick-offs at each of 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm French time (an hour ahead of UK time). These time slots are mixed between the groups other than in the third and final round of group games, where each pair of group games will kick off simultaneously.
All four men’s quarter-finals will be played on Friday August 2, with the same four time slots. That means that we may get games overlapping one another should they go to extra time and penalties, as they do in the event of a draw after 90 minutes.
The men’s semi-finals will be played on Monday August 5at 6pm and 9pm, followed by the bronze medal match at 5pm on Thursday 8th August and the final at 6pm on Friday 9th August.
Full 2024 Olympics football schedule
The full schedule is as follows (all times French time).
Wednesday 24th July - Men’s group stage
- 3pm: Argentina v Morocco, Uzbekistan v Spain
- 5pm: Guinea v New Zealand; Egypt v Dominican Republic
- 7pm: Iraq v Ukraine, Japan v Paraguay
- 9pm: France v USA, Mali v Israel
Thursday 25th July - Women’s group stage
- 5pm: Canada v New Zealand, Spain v Japan
- 7pm: Germany v Australia, Nigeria v Brazil
- 9pm: France v Colombia, USA v Zambia
Saturday 27th July - Men’s group stage
- 3pm: Argentina v Iraq, Dominican Republic v Spain
- 5pm: Ukraine v Morocco, Uzbekistan v Egypt
- 7pm: New Zealand v USA, Israel v Paraguay
- 9pm: France v Guinea, Japan v Mali
Sunday 28th July - Women’s group stage
- 5pm: New Zealand v Colombia, Brazil v Japan
- 7pm: Australia v Zambia, Spain v Nigeria
- 9pm: France v Canada, USA v Germany
Tuesday 30th July - Men’s group stage
- 3pm: Dominican Republic v Uzbekistan, Spain v Egypt
- 5pm: Ukraine v Argentina, Morocco v Iraq
- 7pm: New Zealand v France, USA v Guinea
- 9pm: Israel v Japan, Paraguay v Mali
Wednesday 31st July - Women’s group stage
- 5pm: Brazil v Spain, Japan v Nigeria
- 7pm: Australia v USA, Zambia v Germany
- 9pm: New Zealand v Colombia, France v Canada
Friday 2nd August - 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, 9pm: Men’s quarter-finals
Saturday 3rd August - 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, 9pm: Women’s quarter-finals
Monday 5th August - 6pm and 9pm: Men’s semi-finals
Tuesday 6th August - 6pm and 9pm: Women’s semi-finals
Thursday 8th August - 5pm: Men’s bronze medal match
Friday 9th August
- 3pm: Women’s bronze medal match
- 6pm: Men’s final
Saturday 10th August - 5pm: Women’s final
More Olympics football stories
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Footballers who won Olympic gold medals
‘I felt I should have gone to Euro 2012 - but playing at the Olympics is cooler’: Ex-England striker reflects on Three Lions snub with fondness
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Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.