Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament
In today's article, we are going to delve into Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament, a relevant topic that has captured the attention of many people in recent times. Throughout this text, we will analyze different aspects of Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament, from its origins to its impact on today's society. We will immerse ourselves in its history, explore its implications in different areas and reflect on its importance in the current context. Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament is an exciting topic that deserves to be addressed from different perspectives, which is why in this article we aim to offer a broad and enriching vision of this matter. Join us on this fascinating exploration!
The 1996 Summer Olympics—based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States—marked the first time that women participated in the Olympic association football tournament. The tournament featured eight women's national teams from four continental confederations. The teams were drawn into two groups of four and each group played a round-robin tournament (which was held in Miami, Orlando, Birmingham and Washington, D.C.). At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage (which was held at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia), beginning with the semi-finals and culminating with the gold medal match on August 1, 1996.
The United States became the inaugural champion after a 2–1 victory against China in the gold medal game.
The qualification system for the inaugural women's football tournament was based on the results of the 1995 FIFA World Cup. Seven best teams and the host nation were qualified for the tournament. As the third-ranked United States team was already qualified as the host, its spot was passed down to the eighth-ranked team, Japan. England was ranked seventh, but due to it not being an IOC member, its spot was passed down to the ninth-ranked Brazil.
There were 53 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.31 goals per match. Brazil's Pretinha and Norway's Ann Kristin Aarønes and Linda Medalen finished as the top scorers of the tournament, with each scoring four goals.
The United States won the FIFA Fair Play Award, given to the team with the best record of fair play during the tournament.
Tournament ranking
Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.