4-time FIFA World Cup champions, Italy will not be playing in the Men’s Football event of the Paris Olympics 2024. Italy, are a powerhouse in world football, but haven’t been participating in the Olympics since 2008.
The Men’s Football event in the Olympics consist of 16 teams and Europe as a continent had 4 spots up for grabs, including the host country, France. The French side didn’t have to go through a qualification round and directly earned a place in the Olympics.
Football did not have a direct qualification process for the Olympics, in contrast to most other sports. Instead, rankings from a number of youth international competitions, including the U21 Euros and the U23 Africa Cup of Nations, were used.
In the U21 European Championships 2023, Spain, Ukraine, Israel and England were the semi-finalists. The first three teams have qualified for the football event of the Paris Olympics 2024 along with France.
England, who were the champions of the U21 Euros 2023, aren’t playing football at the Olympics, as there are technical issues surrounding “Team Great Britain”.
This is the reason why we will not see Italy in the Paris Olympics 2024 as they were knocked out from the group-stage in the U21 Euros 2023. Italy had finished in the 3rd position of Group D and it was France and Switzerland, who had advanced to the knockout stage.
France, Japan and Spain are off to winning starts in Paris Olympics 2024 Football Men’s event
Hosts France defeated United States 3-0 while Japan blanked Paraguay 5-0 in their opening game. Euro 2024 champions Spain got past Uzbekistan 2-1 and New Zealand outclassed Guinea, 2-1.
In a shocking defeat, FIFA World Cup 2022 champions Argentina lost to Morocco, 1-2. A string of fan controversies surrounded this game and it wasn’t a good exponent of the unity in the Olympics.
Also read: Paris Olympics 2024: State-Wise Breakdown Of 117-Strong Contingent Of Team India
