Olympics 2024: Ukraine's national team is in the fourth pot and awaits the draw

On March 20 at 9:00 PM Kyiv time, in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, at the headquarters of the capital of the Summer Games, Pulse, the draw ceremony for the football tournaments of the 2024 Olympics will begin, UNN reports.

Details

It should be noted that the Ukrainian national team is also a participant in the men's competition. Last summer, by defeating France (3:1) in the quarter-final match of Euro 2023 (U-21) and securing a spot in the semi-finals, our team achieved a historic success — it won the right for the country to participate in the Olympic football tournament for the first time. Along with Ukraine, Spain and Israel also obtained licenses for the 2024 Summer Games from Europe in this discipline through the Euro 2023 youth tournament.

As of today, 12 participants of the men's football tournament of the 2024 Olympic Games are already known. They will compete from July 24 to August 9 in seven French cities: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice, and Nantes. According to the regulations, players born after January 1, 2001, can participate in the competitions. In addition, each team can include three players older than this age in their squad.

In total, 16 national teams will participate in the tournament: France — as the host, three teams will represent Europe (Ukraine, Spain, Israel), three — Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Mali), three — Asia (will be known by May 3), two — South America (Paraguay, Argentina), two — CONCACAF zone (USA, Dominican Republic), one — Oceania (New Zealand), and the winner of the play-off between the fourth teams of Africa (Guinea) and Asia will also join them.

The format of the Olympic tournament is traditional: competition in four groups of four teams, with the two strongest advancing to the playoffs, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, a match for third place, and the final (August 9, Paris, "Parc des Princes").

FIFA has unveiled the draw format and announced the composition of the pots according to the participants' ranking. It is based on the sum of points earned by a country (three for a win in regular time, one for a draw) in the last five Olympic football tournaments, with the following weighting: 2020 — 100%, 2016 — 80%, 2012 — 60%, 2008 — 40%, 2004 — 20%. Additionally, five bonus points are awarded to title holders during this period. Since the qualification competitions in Asia will conclude on May 3, AFC representatives received the confederation's team ranking based on their performance at the last Summer Games, in Tokyo in 2020. The winner of the intercontinental play-off immediately went into the fourth pot. Ukraine, a debutant in the Olympic football tournament, will also be in the same pot.

Composition of pots before the draw for the men's football tournament of the 2024 Olympics

Pot 1

1. France
2. AFC-1
3. AFC-2
4. Argentina

Pot 2

1. Spain
2. New Zealand
3. Paraguay
4. Morocco

Pot 3

1. USA
2. Egypt
3. AFC-3
4. Mali

Pot 4

1. Dominican Republic
2. Israel
3. Ukraine

Winner of the intercontinental play-off

Quartets will be formed in order from Pot 1 to Pot 4. Representatives of the same confederation will not be placed in the same group. The same applies to the winner of the intercontinental play-off.

It should be added that the current Olympic football champion among men's national teams is Brazil, which defeated Spain (2:1) in the Tokyo 2020 final. This time, they did not even qualify, finishing third in South America.

It should be noted that as part of their preparation for the tournament, the Ukrainian Olympic team will hold a training camp in Szeged, Hungary, from March 17 to 27, and play a friendly match against Japan (March 25) in Fukuoka.