In the women’s soccer tournament at the Tokyo Olympics, 12 teams compete in three groups of four.
After they have played against each other once, the two first-placed winners in each group advance to the quarter-finals together with the two best third-placed winners.
In addition to hosts Japan, 11 teams from six different confederations qualified – UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania), AFC (Asia), CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (North America).
Europe leads with three representatives – Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden – who qualified based on their performance at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
It was agreed between the home nations that Great Britain would be measured by the course of the tournament in which they reached the semi-finals under Phil Neville.
Defending champion Germany, who defeated Sweden 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Olympic Games, will not fight to defend their title this summer.
Team GB Olympics 2020 football roster: complete women’s team
Team GB Olympics 2020 football games: who will team GB play against in Tokyo?
Great Britain is among the favorites to win the gold medal but is expecting stiff competition from the USA, Brazil, Japan and the Netherlands.
The US has an excellent record in women’s football at the Olympics, having won four of the last six tournaments.
Her highly experienced roster includes several celebrity names including Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and 38-year-old Carli Lloyd, who has won more than 300 caps for her country.
She also has great Olympic ancestry, having previously scored the crucial goals in the 2008 and 2012 finals.
The three groups of women are called E, F and G to distinguish them from the four groups of men – A, B, C and D.
Group E – Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile
Group F. – China, Brazil, Zambia, Netherlands
Group G – Sweden, USA, Australia, New Zealand
