The road to Tokyo 2020

27 June 2019 – Tokyo 2020 will host the 25th edition of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. Sixteen (16) teams, including hosts Japan, will compete to win the gold medal.

Only 16 teams will have the privilege of vying for the gold medal at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020, the best of the best, which is why booking a place at the competition is an achievement in and of itself.

FIFA.com reveals the qualification dates and details for each confederation.

As the host nation, Japan are so far the only side to be confirmed to compete in the tournament.

The question now is, what does your national team need to do to fill one of the 15 remaining places and join them in Tokyo next year?

CONFEDERATIONS QUOTA PLACES
AFC (Asia) 3
CAF (Africa) 3
Concacaf (North, Central America & the Caribbean) 2
CONMEBOL (South America) 2
OFC (Oceania) 1
UEFA (Europe) 4
Host Country (Japan) 1
Let’s take a look at the regional qualification tournaments that will take place throughout the year and next, in chronological order:

Europe
Europe’s Olympic quartet is now fully decided. The continent will be represented by Romania, France, Spain and Germany in Tokyo. The four booked their places after qualifying for the semi-finals of the UEFA European U-21 Championship currently underway in Italy and San Marino – thereby securing a spot in Tokyo as the top four in the tournament. Of the four countries, Germany is the only one making a return to the Games, as they participated in the previous Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Rio in 2016. Romania are bound for their first Olympics since 1964. France won gold in 1984 but have never qualified since 1996.

Here are the teams that took part in the UEFA Under 21-Championship:
Group A: Italy, Spain, Poland, Belgium
Group B: Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Austria
Group C: England, France, Romania, Croatia

 

 

Oceania
The OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier 2019 will be held in Fiji from 21 September to 5 October, where eight teams will compete for one coveted spot at Tokyo 2020. Fiji represented the region at Rio 2016 for the first time, while New Zealand had qualified for London 2012 and Beijing 2008.

OFC Men’s Olympic Tournament 2019 Groups:
Group A: New Zealand, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Samoa
Group B: Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Tonga

Africa
The CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations will take place in Egypt from 8 to 22 November, where eight nations will vie for three qualification tickets to Tokyo 2020. Nigeria are the defending champions, having qualified alongside Algeria and South Africa last time out.

 

The third and final round matches of the Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2019 qualifiers has been rescheduled for between 2 and 10 September 2019, instead of the previously announced 3-11 June 2019.

 

The decision follows a recommendation by the CAF Executive Committee at its last meeting on 11 April 2019 in Cairo, Egypt, due to the proximity of the initial dates to the Total Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2019, which is currently underway (from 21 June to 19 July 2019).

 

The fixtures for the final round are as follows;

*South Africa vs Zimbabwe

*Zambia vs Congo

*Ghana vs Algeria

*Cameroon vs Tunisia

*Cote d’Ivoire vs Guinea

*Sudan vs Nigeria

*Morocco vs Mali

 

The seven winners after two legs will join host Egypt for the final tournament scheduled for 8-22 November 2019, where the top three finishers will represent the continent at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

 

 

Asia
Three spots at Tokyo 2020 will be up for grabs at the AFC U-23 Championship Thailand 2020, which will be held from 8 to 26 January. Sixteen nations will take part in the region’s final qualification tournament. If Japan reach the semi-finals, all three of the other semi-finalists will be guaranteed qualification to the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament as Japan are automatically allocated a spot as hosts. Japan, Korea Republic and Iraq were the three Asian nations who competed at the last Olympic tournament at Rio 2016.

South America
Colombia will host the South American U-23 qualifying tournament in early 2020 with the exact dates still to be confirmed. The top two teams from the competition will book tickets to Tokyo 2020. Argentina and Colombia qualified last time out, while Brazil, qualified for Rio 206 as hosts, went on to win gold.

North, Central America and Caribbean
The dates and host nation are still to be confirmed for Concacaf’s final qualification tournament. The top two teams will qualify for Tokyo 2020. Mexico and Honduras represented the region last time out.

 

 

(source: FIFA.com)