On March 20 at 9 PM Kyiv time, in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, at the headquarters of the summer Youth Olympics,Pulse, the ceremony for drawing lots of football tournaments at the 2024 Olympics will begin.

We remind you that the men's competition includes the Ukrainian team. Last summer, our team achieved a historic success by defeating France (3:1) in the quarter-finals of Euro-2023 (U-21) and securing a spot in the semi-finals, thereby earning the right for Ukraine to participate in an Olympic football tournament for the first time. Along with Ukraine, Spain and Israel also qualified for the 2024 Summer Games through the European Youth Championship.

As of today, 12 participants of the men's football tournament at the 2024 Olympics are already known; they will compete from July 24 to August 9 in seven cities across France: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice, and Nantes. According to the regulations,players born after January 1, 2001 are eligible to participate. Additionally, each team can include up to three players who are older than this age.

In total, 16 teams will take part in the tournament: France as the host, three from Europe (Ukraine, Spain, Israel), three from Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Mali), three from Asia (to be known by May 3), two from South America (Paraguay, Argentina), two from CONCACAF (USA, Dominican Republic), one from Oceania (New Zealand), and the winner of a playoff between the fourth-placed teams in Africa (Guinea) and Asia.

The format of the Olympic tournament is traditional: four groups with four teams each, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match, and final on August 9 in Paris at "Parc des Princes."

FIFA has announced the draw format and released the composition of pots based on the ranking of participants. The ranking is calculated as a sum of points earned by the country (three for a win, one for a draw) over the last five Olympic football tournaments in this ratio: 2020 - 100%, 2016 - 80%, 2012 - 60%, 2008 - 40%, 2004 - 20%. Additionally, five bonus points are awarded to the title holders during this period. Since Asian qualification matches end on May 3, AFC representatives received their ranking based on performance at the previous Summer Games in Tokyo in 2020. The winner of the intercontinental playoff immediately goes into the fourth pot. There is also Ukraine, a debutant in the Olympic football tournament.

Photo fifa.com

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

Pot 1

France

AFC-1

AFC-2

Argentina

Pot 2

Spain

New Zealand

Paraguay

Morocco

Pot 3

USA

Egypt

AFC-3

Mali

Pot 4

Dominican Republic

Israel

Ukraine

Intercontinental playoff winner

Groups will be formed in the order from Pot 1 to Pot 4. Representatives of one confederation do not enter the same group, and neither does the intercontinental playoff winner.

We add that Brazil is currently the reigning Olympic champion with football among men's teams, having defeated Spain (2:1) in the final at Tokyo-2020. This time, it did not even qualify, finishing third in South America.

As part of preparation for the tournament, the Ukrainian Olympic team will conduct a training camp from March 17 to 27 in Szeged, Hungary, and play a friendly match against Japan (March 25) in Fukuoka.