Tokyo 2020/Football: Women's tournament begins on 21/07/2021, 2 days before the opening ceremony

Great Britain - Chile at the Sapporo Dome in Sapporo (JPN) is the first match of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament on Wednesday 21/07/2021 (kick-off 09:30 CET, 16:30 local time).

The 12 teams participating in the competition play their first matches on the same day (see programme below), two days before the official opening ceremony on Friday 23/03/2021. The men's tournament (16 teams) begins on Thursday 22/07/2021.

The United States women's team, reigning world champions (France 2019), have won the Olympic tournament four times in the six editions played since 1996, including three consecutive times (2004, 2008 and 2012). In the Tokyo 2020 qualifiers, the Americans scored 25 goals without conceding any.

Germany, the defending champions, are absent: the three best European teams at the 2019 Women's World Cup in France qualified (Netherlands, Sweden and England/Great Britain). The Germans were eliminated by Sweden in the quarter-finals (2-1 in Rennes on 29/06/2019).

Three of the 12 teams present in Japan are playing their first Olympic Games: Chile, the Netherlands and Zambia.