Soccer in the Olympics is different from other competitions like the recent European Championship or Copa America. For one, it involves both men’s and women’s soccer. Moreover, those two competitions happen at the same time. Therefore, it is a rare opportunity to see some of the top talents in soccer from both the men’s and women’s games play simultaneously. Yet, there are even stark differences between those two events, namely in who can compete for each team.
The Olympics does not take precedence when it comes to fans’ and players’ appreciation of international soccer. The World Cup, Euros and Copa America for both men and women are, by most accounts, the top international tournaments. The Olympics are still a great achievement, though. For women, it ranks second in the list of honors for an international team, and it has been immense disappointment at the last two Olympic games for the United States Women’s National Team, a side that won the Gold Medal in four out of five editions from 1996 to 2012.
Smaller international tournament based on the number of teams
To understand why the Olympics have their place in the soccer world, one must comprehend the differences between the Olympics compared to other international soccer tournaments. To start, the tournaments are smaller. The men’s side of soccer at the Olympics features 16 teams from each of the six FIFA confederations.
Such a wide spread with so few teams prevents many of the major sides from competing. For example, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Uruguay and England, nations steeped in international success both recently and historically, did not qualify. Instead, Iraq, Guinea, Uzbekistan, Israel, Paraguay, Mali Ukraine and the Dominican Republic make up half the teams in the men’s 2024 Olympic soccer tournament. There are still traditionally strong teams like Spain, Argentina, France and Japan with the return of the United States.
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Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/olympics/how-does-olympics-soccer-work/
Author : Kyle Fansler
Publish date : 2024-07-15 17:34:58
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