Twelve teams competed in the women's football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In addition to host nation Brazil, 11 women's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations.
In addition to host nation Brazil, 11 women's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations. FIFA ratified the distribution of spots at the Executive Committee meeting in March 2014.[1]
| Means of qualification | Dates | Venue | Berths | Qualified | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host country | 2 October 2009 | Denmark | 1 | |||
| 2014 Copa América[2] | 11–28 September 2014 |  Ecuador | 1 | |||
| 2015 FIFA World Cup[3] (for UEFA eligible teams) | 6 June – 5 July 2015 |  Canada | 2 | |||
| 2015 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament[4] | 2–18 October 2015 | Various (home and away) | 2 | |||
| 2016 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament[5] | 23 January 2016 |  Papua New Guinea | 1 | |||
| 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship[6] | 10–21 February 2016 |  United States | 2 | |||
| 2016 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament[7] | 29 February – 9 March 2016 |  Japan[8] | 2 | |||
| 2016 UEFA Olympic Qualifying Tournament[9] | 2–9 March 2016 |  Netherlands | 1 | |||
| Total | 12 | |||||
See main article: 2016 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Australia and China PR earned Olympic qualification places by finishing in the top two of the standings of the final round.
See main article: 2015 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
South Africa and Zimbabwe earned Olympic qualification places by winning their fourth round ties.
See main article: 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship.
The United States and Canada earned Olympic qualification places by winning their semi-final matches.
See main article: 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification.
See main article: 2014 Copa América Femenina.
Colombia earned an Olympic qualification place by finishing second in the Copa América Femenina. Brazil automatically qualified as the Olympic host.
See main article: 2016 OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
New Zealand earned an Olympic qualification place by winning their second round tie.
See main article: Football at the 2015 Pacific Games – Women's tournament.
Same as the qualification process for previous Olympics, UEFA used the FIFA Women's World Cup to determine which women's national teams from Europe qualify for the Olympic football tournament. The three teams from UEFA that progressed the furthest in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup played in Canada, other than ineligible England, would qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics women's football tournament in Brazil.[10] [11] If teams in contention for the Olympic spots were eliminated in the same round, ties were not broken by their overall tournament record, and play-offs or a mini-tournament to decide the spots would be held provisionally in February/March 2016.[12]
England were ineligible for the Olympics as they were not an Olympic nation, although Great Britain did compete in 2012 as the host nation. The Football Association had originally declared on 2 March 2015 its intention to enter and run teams on behalf of the British Olympic Association at the 2016 Olympics should England qualify.[13] Following strong objections from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations, and a commitment from FIFA that they would not allow entry of a British team unless all four Home Nations agreed, the Football Association announced on 30 March 2015 that they would not seek entry into the Olympic tournament.[14]
After Norway were eliminated by England in the round of 16 on 22 June 2015, it was confirmed that two of the three spots would go to quarter-finalists France and Germany because there could not be more than three eligible European teams in the quarter-finals. Eventually no other eligible European team reached the quarter-finals, so the four European teams eliminated in the round of 16 (Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) would compete in the UEFA play-off tournament to decide the last spot.[15]
Sweden earned UEFA's last Olympic qualification place by winning the qualifying tournament.
See main article: 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
| +UEFA teams qualified for 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup | |||
| Team | Final result in 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup | Qualification for 2016 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third place | Ineligible | ||
| Fourth place | Qualified | ||
| Eliminated in quarter-finals | |||
| Eliminated in round of 16 | Play-off tournament | ||
| Eliminated in group stage |
See main article: 2016 UEFA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.