Who will win football gold at the Olympic Games?
The men's and women's football tournaments at Paris 2024 promise to provide plenty of excitement. Who will take home glory - and gold - at these Olympic Games?
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00:00After a domestic season and summer tournaments,
00:03there is still more international football to be played
00:06with the upcoming Olympic Games.
00:08So, who will take home glory and gold
00:11in the men's and women's competitions at Paris 2024?
00:20Hello and welcome to Football Now.
00:23Last week, we looked at the technical aspects of Olympic football.
00:26Now it's time to take a deep dive into the teams.
00:2916 nations are bringing their best under 23 squads
00:34and the men's tournament has a history of throwing up some surprise winners.
00:38Brazil were victorious in previous editions in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo,
00:43but they actually haven't qualified this time around,
00:46meaning we're guaranteed a new gold medal winner at Paris 2024.
00:51Let's take a look at some of the main contenders from the men's side of the draw.
00:57France will be looking to become just the 5th host nation to win Olympic gold on home soil
01:02and with plenty of familiar faces not just in the squad but on the touchline too,
01:07they are certainly among the favourites to do so.
01:10Can they overcome the USA, Guinea and New Zealand on their journey
01:14to become the first European side to claim gold in the event since Spain in 1992?
01:20That is the big hurdle for the French to overcome.
01:24They have an outstanding squad, they have a very promising coach in Thierry Henry.
01:28He's taken Belgium in an assistant role to new heights
01:32and when you look at the depth of this France under 23 squad,
01:35you have the overage players Mateta and Lacazette, Castelo, Luqueba.
01:40The question for Thierry Henry is can he mould them together into a team that is successful
01:47because 4 years ago it wasn't successful, they finished 13th out of 16.
01:51Talent is not a problem, getting them to focus on the goal of Olympic gold,
01:56that may be his biggest challenge.
01:58Morocco qualify for the tournament by winning the under 23 African Cup of Nations over one year ago.
02:04They face Iraq, Ukraine and the always formidable Argentina in Group B.
02:10In Group C, Spain are the only returning medalists from Tokyo 2020 at this tournament.
02:16It's a first time at the Olympics for surprise package Uzbekistan
02:20who secured qualification as runners-up at the recent under 23 Asian Cup in Qatar.
02:26The winners of that tournament, Japan, go into Paris 2024 as genuine contenders
02:32and will look to become the first Asian team to take home the men's football gold medal in Olympic history.
02:38Yeah, I think Japan will be flying the flag.
02:41I mean they were semi-finalists as well not too long ago in Olympic competition.
02:45I don't see why they can't go one step further than they have in the recent past
02:49and make that gold medal match at least.
02:51Who knows what can happen in a single game.
02:53Uzbekistan I think is the most interesting.
02:55We saw that at the under 23 Asian Cup which served as qualifiers for the Olympics.
03:00There are big countries absent from this.
03:03We spoke about the fact there's no Brazil, there's also no Germany, but it's open.
03:08Why couldn't an Asian side make that final step up to the gold medal match?
03:12I think it would be fantastic for the game and perhaps even get their hands on the top prize.
03:16On to the women's side of the draw now where there are only three groups compared to four on the men's side.
03:22However, the rules are much simpler.
03:25There are no age restrictions on the players meaning the squads that we will see in Paris
03:29are full strength with nations treating it as a de facto World Cup.
03:34Let's take a look at how the women's draw is shaping up.
03:38In Group A, the host nation is paired with Colombia and New Zealand
03:42as well as defending gold medalist Canada
03:45who are looking to become the first team since the United States at London 2012
03:49to win the gold back to back.
03:51Yeah, there are a number of really interesting narratives coming into the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
03:57Canada, the reigning champions from Tokyo back in 2020 is a really big one.
04:02Whether they can do it again is a pretty big question
04:04especially when they're surrounded by such incredible other teams and immense talents.
04:09Now you've got your World Cup champions Spain
04:11who are probably the strongest women's national team going around at the moment.
04:15They are continuing to dominate at the international level
04:18and I think will want to marry their World Cup title with an Olympic gold medal.
04:22At the same time, you've got a couple of other nations who are really wanting to prove themselves
04:26including Germany who have won a gold medal in the past
04:29and Japan who reached the final in 2012 but were just pipped by the USA.
04:34Speaking of the US women's team, they face a tough draw
04:37facing fellow medal contenders Australia and Germany.
04:41Zambia also complete Group B.
04:43The tournament is rounded out by women's football powerhouses in world champion Spain
04:48in a group with Brazil, Japan and 2023 World Cup surprise package Nigeria.
04:55The women's competition has historically been the domain of the United States
04:59who with four gold medals are the only multiple time winners at this tournament.
05:04But after only taking home bronze in Tokyo is their era of domination coming to an end.
05:11The USA which is potentially the biggest threat to all of these other teams at the moment
05:16they are resurgent under their new head coach Emma Hayes
05:19and of course they're four times gold medalists at the Olympics as well
05:23so they know exactly what to do and how to get it done, how to get all the way to the top.
05:26There are a number of really interesting stories and interesting teams coming into this 12 team tournament
05:31and all of them are in really tricky groups because when you've only got 12 teams
05:35every group is basically a group of death.
05:37It promises to be an exciting tournament on both the men's and women's side of the draw.
05:42That's all we have time for from our studio here in Doha.
05:46Have your say on who you think will win gold in Paris using the hashtag FootballNowOlympics.
05:52We'll see you next time. Bye for now.