# Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's association football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 6 to 21 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams.
For these Games, the women competed in a 12-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced on 6 August, two days before the Opening Ceremony of the Games. The teams were grouped into three pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. The top two teams in each pool, as well as the best two third-place finishing teams, advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket.
The tournament was won by the United States, which beat Brazil 1–0 in the gold medal game. Carli Lloyd scored the game-winning goal in the 96th minute for the United States, which collected their third Olympic gold medal.

## Qualifying

A National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team for the football competition.
| Means of completion | Date of completion | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | – | – | 1 | China |
| AFC Preliminary Competition | February 2007 – August 2007 | – | 2 | Japan North Korea |
| CAF Preliminary Competition | October 2006 – March 2008 | – | 1 | Nigeria |
| CONCACAF Preliminary Competition | October 2007 – April 2008 | Ciudad Juárez | 2 | United States Canada |
| 2006 Sudamericano Femenino | 10–26 November 2006 | Mar del Plata | 1 | Argentina |
| OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying | 25 August – 7 September 2007 8 March 2008 | Apia Port Moresby | 1 | New Zealand |
| UEFA (2007 FIFA Women's World Cup)* | 10–30 September 2007 | China | 2* | Germany Norway |
| UEFA Playoff (Denmark vs Sweden) | 8 November 2007 28 November 2007 | Viborg Solna | 1* | Sweden |
| CONMEBOL–CAF play-off | 19 April 2008 | Beijing | 1 | Brazil |
| TOTAL | | | 12 | |
* Note – The three best ranked European teams at the FIFA Women's World Cup qualified for the Olympics. However, the third best team England could not participate, because England competes at the Olympic Games as part of Great Britain, which does not compete in football. Therefore, the fourth European team would advance, requiring a play-off between Sweden and Denmark.

## Venues

The tournament was held in five venues across five cities:
| Beijing | Shanghai | Tianjin | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |
| Beijing Workers' Stadium | Shanghai Stadium | Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |
| Capacity: 70,161 | Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 60,000 | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |
| Shenyang | Qinhuangdao | | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |
| Shenyang Olympic Stadium | Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium | | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |
| Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 33,000 | | BeijingQinhuangdaoShanghaiShenyangTianjinclass=notpageimage| Location of host cities of the tournament. |

## Seeding

| Pot 1: Asia | Pot 2: North America and Africa | Pot 3: Europe | Pot 4: South America and Oceania |
| China (Hosts)  Japan  North Korea | Canada  Nigeria  United States | Germany  Norway  Sweden | Argentina  Brazil  New Zealand |

## Squads

The women's tournament is a full international tournament with no restrictions on age. Each nation must submit a squad of 18 players by 23 July 2008. A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) must be included in the squad.

## Match officials

Referees :
| Confederation | Referee |
| AFC | Hong Eun-ah (South Korea) |
| AFC | Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand) |
| AFC | Niu Huijun (China PR) |
| CAF | Deidre Mitchell (South Africa) |
| CONCACAF | Shane de Silva (Trinidad and Tobago) |
| CONCACAF | Dianne Ferreira-James (Guyana) |
| CONCACAF | Kari Seitz (United States) |
| CONMEBOL | Estela Álvarez (Argentina) |
| UEFA | Christine Beck (Germany) |
| UEFA | Dagmar Damková (Czech Republic) |
| UEFA | Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden) |
| UEFA | Nicole Petignat (Switzerland) |
Assistant referees :
| Confederation | Assistant referee |
| AFC | Daw Kaw Ja (Myanmar) |
| AFC | Sarah Ho (Australia) |
| AFC | Jacqueline Leleu (Australia) |
| AFC | Liu Hongjuan (China PR) |
| AFC | Liu Hsiu-mei (Chinese Taipei) |
| AFC | Widiya Habibah Shamsuri (Malaysia) |
| CAF | Nomvula Masilela (South Africa) |
| CAF | Tempa Ndah (Benin) |
| CONCACAF | Mayte Chávez (Mexico) |
| CONCACAF | Marlene Duffy (United States) |
| CONCACAF | Milena López (Costa Rica) |
| CONCACAF | Cindy Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago) |
| CONCACAF | Rita Muñoz (Mexico) |
| CONCACAF | Veronica Perez (United States) |
| CONMEBOL | Marlene Leyton (Peru) |
| CONMEBOL | María Rocco (Argentina) |
| UEFA | Helen Caro (Sweden) |
| UEFA | Cristina Cini (Italy) |
| UEFA | Irina Mirt (Romania) |
| UEFA | Inka Müller (Germany) |
| UEFA | Katarzyna Nadolska (Poland) |
| UEFA | Hege Lanes Steinlund (Norway) |
| UEFA | María Luisa Villa Gutiérrez (Spain) |
| UEFA | Karine Vives Solana (France) |

## Group stage

Group winners and runners-up, plus two best third place teams advanced to quarter final round. Groups are lettered sequentially from the last letter in the Men's Football tournament (which has Groups A through D).
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | China | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 4 | Argentina | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 2 | Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 7 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 3 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Nigeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group G

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 2 | Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 6 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 3 | Japan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| 4 | New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 | |

### Ranking of third-placed teams

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Japan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 |
| Canada | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |

## Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Gold medal match | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| F1 | Brazil | 2 | | | | | | |
| G2 | Norway | 1 | | | | | | |
| G2 | Norway | 1 | F1 | Brazil | 4 | | | |
| | | | F2 | Germany | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Sweden | 0 | F2 | Germany | 1 | | | |
| F2 | Germany (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | | |
| F2 | Germany (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | F1 | Brazil | 0 |
| | | | | | | G1 | United States (a.e.t.) | 1 |
| E1 | China | 0 | | | | | | | G1 | United States (a.e.t.) | 1 |
| G3 | Japan | 2 | | | |
| G3 | Japan | 2 | G3 | Japan | 2 | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | | G1 | United States | 4 |
| G1 | United States (a.e.t.) | 2 | G1 | United States | 4 | F2 | Germany | 2 |
| E3 | Canada | 1 | | | | G3 | Japan | 0 |

### Gold medal match
## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 66 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.54 goals per match.
5 goals
* Cristiane
4 goals
* Angela Hucles
3 goals
* Marta
* Homare Sawa
* Lotta Schelin
2 goals
* Daniela
* Christine Sinclair
* Xu Yuan
* Fatmire Bajramaj
* Shinobu Ohno
* Melissa Wiik
* Carli Lloyd
* Heather O'Reilly
1 goal
* Ludmila Manicler
* Formiga
* Candace Chapman
* Kara Lang
* Melissa Tancredi
* Gu Yasha
* Han Duan
* Kerstin Garefrekes
* Simone Laudehr
* Anja Mittag
* Birgit Prinz
* Kerstin Stegemann
* Eriko Arakawa
* Ayumi Hara
* Yukari Kinga
* Aya Miyama
* Yūki Nagasato
* Amber Hearn
* Kirsty Yallop
* Perpetua Nkwocha
* Kim Kyong-hwa
* Ri Kum-suk
* Guro Knutsen
* Leni Larsen Kaurin
* Siri Nordby
* Nilla Fischer
* Lori Chalupny
* Natasha Kai
* Amy Rodriguez
* Lindsay Tarpley
1 own goal
* Florencia Quiñones (against China PR)
* Gunhild Følstad (against Japan)
Source: FIFA

### Assists

3 assists
* Aya Miyama
2 assists
* Cristiane
* Xu Yuan
* Shinobu Ohno
* Victoria Sandell Svensson
* Heather O'Reilly
1 assist
* Mariela Coronel
* Marta
* Maycon
* Rosana
* Kara Lang
* Clare Rustad
* Rhian Wilkinson
* Bi Yan
* Zhang Na
* Renate Lingor
* Anja Mittag
* Birgit Prinz
* Yukari Kinga
* Yūki Nagasato
* Ali Riley
* Ri Un-gyong
* Gunhild Følstad
* Leni Larsen Kaurin
* Ane Stangeland Horpestad
* Jessica Landström
* Therese Sjögran
* Shannon Boxx
* Rachel Buehler
* Lindsay Tarpley
Source: FIFA

### FIFA Fair Play Award

China PR won the FIFA Fair Play Award, given to the team with the best record of fair play during the tournament. Every match in the final competition is taken into account but only teams that reach the second stage of the competition are eligible for the Fair Play Award.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
| 1 | China | 956 |
| 2 | Japan | 939 |
| 3 | United States | 930 |
| 4 | Germany | 913 |
| 5 | Sweden | 913 |
| 6 | Norway | 903 |
| 7 | Brazil | 896 |
| 8 | Canada | 892 |

### Tournament ranking

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | G | United States | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 15 | Gold medal |
| 2 | F | Brazil | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 13 | Silver medal |
| 3 | F | Germany | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 13 | Bronze medal |
| 4 | G | Japan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 7 | Fourth place |
| 5 | E | China (H) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | E | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 6 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 7 | G | Norway | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 6 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 8 | E | Canada | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 9 | F | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | G | New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 11 | E | Argentina | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 11 | F | Nigeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |