# Football at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

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.

## Table

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.
| Means of qualification | Dates | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
| Host country | 2 October 2009 | Denmark | 1 | Brazil |
| 2014 Copa América | 11–28 September 2014 | Ecuador | 1 | Colombia |
| 2015 FIFA World Cup (for UEFA eligible teams) | 6 June – 5 July 2015 | Canada | 2 | Germany |
| 2015 FIFA World Cup (for UEFA eligible teams) | 6 June – 5 July 2015 | Canada | 2 | France |
| 2015 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 2–18 October 2015 | Various (home and away) | 2 | South Africa |
| 2015 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 2–18 October 2015 | Various (home and away) | 2 | Zimbabwe |
| 2016 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 23 January 2016 | Papua New Guinea | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship | 10–21 February 2016 | United States | 2 | United States |
| 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship | 10–21 February 2016 | United States | 2 | Canada |
| 2016 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 29 February – 9 March 2016 | Japan | 2 | Australia |
| 2016 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 29 February – 9 March 2016 | Japan | 2 | China |
| 2016 UEFA Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 2–9 March 2016 | Netherlands | 1 | Sweden |
| Total | | | 12 | |
* ^4 Dates and venues are those of final tournaments (or final round of qualification tournaments), various qualification stages may precede matches at these specific venues.
* ^5 England finished in the top three among UEFA teams in the World Cup, however England is not an IOC member and talks for them to compete as Great Britain broke down.
* ^6 Nations making their Olympic tournament debut

## AFC

Australia and China PR earned Olympic qualification places by finishing in the top two of the standings of the final round.

### First round

| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Myanmar (H) 2 6 2  India 2 3 3  Sri Lanka 2 0 4  Bahrain 0 0 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Jordan (H) 3 9 2  Uzbekistan 3 6 3  Hong Kong 3 1 4  Palestine 3 1 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Chinese Taipei (H) 2 6 2  Iran 2 3 3  Laos 2 0 Source: AFC (H) Hosts |

### Second round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Vietnam | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | Thailand | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Myanmar (H) | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Jordan | 4 | 0 |

### Final round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Australia | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | China | 5 | 11 |
| 3 | Japan (H) | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | South Korea | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | North Korea | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Vietnam | 5 | 0 |

## CAF

South Africa and Zimbabwe earned Olympic qualification places by winning their fourth round ties.

### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Guinea-Bissau | w/o | Liberia | — | — |
| Gabon | w/o | Libya | — | — |

### Second round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Liberia | w/o | Cameroon | — | — |
| Egypt | 1–4 | Ghana | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Ivory Coast | w/o | Tunisia | — | — |
| Zambia | 2–2 (a) | Zimbabwe | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Gabon | 2–8 | South Africa | 2–3 | 0–5 |
| Botswana | 2–2 (a) | Kenya | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Nigeria | w/o | Mali | — | — |
| Congo | 0–7 | Equatorial Guinea | 0–3 | 0–4 |

### Third round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cameroon | 3–3 (a) | Ghana | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Ivory Coast | w/o | Zimbabwe | 3–0 (awd.) | — |
| South Africa | 2–0 | Kenya | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Nigeria | 2–3 | Equatorial Guinea | 1–1 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |

### Fourth round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cameroon | 2–2 (a) | Zimbabwe | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| South Africa | 1–0 | Equatorial Guinea | 0–0 | 1–0 |

## CONCACAF

The United States and Canada earned Olympic qualification places by winning their semi-final matches.

### Preliminary round
#### Caribbean Zone
##### First round

| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Puerto Rico (H) 3 9 2  Haiti 3 6 3  Grenada 3 3 4  Aruba 3 0 Source: CFU (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Trinidad and Tobago (H) 2 6 2  Saint Lucia 2 0 3  Antigua and Barbuda 0 0 3  Cayman Islands 0 0 Source: CFU (H) Hosts |
| Group 3 | Group 4 |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Jamaica 2 6 2  Dominican Republic (H) 2 3 3  Dominica 2 0 4  Suriname 0 0 Source: CFU (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Guyana 2 4 2  Cuba 2 4 3  Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 0 Source: CFU |

##### Final round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 18 November – Couva | 18 November – Couva |
| Puerto Rico (a.e.t.) | 1 |
| Puerto Rico (a.e.t.) | 1 | 20 November – Couva | 20 November – Couva |
| Guyana | 0 | 20 November – Couva | 20 November – Couva |
| Guyana | 0 | Puerto Rico | 0 |
| 18 November – Couva | 18 November – Couva | | Puerto Rico | 0 |
| 18 November – Couva | 18 November – Couva | Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago (a.e.t.) | 2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
| Jamaica | 1 | | |
| Jamaica | 1 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | 20 November – Couva | 20 November – Couva |
| | | Guyana | 2 |
| | | Jamaica | 1 |

#### Central American Zone

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Costa Rica | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Guatemala | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | El Salvador | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Nicaragua (H) | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Honduras | 0 | 0 |

### Group stage

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  United States (H) 3 9 2  Costa Rica 3 6 3  Mexico 3 3 4  Puerto Rico 3 0 Source: CONCACAF (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Canada 3 9 2  Trinidad and Tobago 3 6 3  Guyana 3 3 4  Guatemala 3 0 Source: CONCACAF |

### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 19 February – Houston | 19 February – Houston |
| Canada | 3 |
| Canada | 3 | 21 February – Houston | 21 February – Houston |
| Costa Rica | 1 | 21 February – Houston | 21 February – Houston |
| Costa Rica | 1 | Canada | 0 |
| 19 February – Houston | 19 February – Houston | | Canada | 0 |
| 19 February – Houston | 19 February – Houston | United States | 2 |
| United States | 5 | United States | 2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0 | | |

## CONMEBOL

Colombia earned an Olympic qualification place by finishing second in the Copa América Femenina. Brazil automatically qualified as the Olympic host.

### First stage

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Colombia 4 12 2  Ecuador (H) 4 6 3  Uruguay 4 6 4  Venezuela 4 4 5  Peru 4 1 Source: CONMEBOL (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Brazil 4 9 2  Argentina 4 9 3  Paraguay 4 6 4  Chile 4 6 5  Bolivia 4 0 Source: CONMEBOL |

### Final stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Colombia | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | Ecuador (H) | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Argentina | 3 | 1 |

## OFC

New Zealand earned an Olympic qualification place by winning their second round tie.

### First stage
#### Group stage

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  New Caledonia 3 7 2  Samoa 3 7 3  Tonga 3 3 4  Solomon Islands 3 0 Source: OFC | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Papua New Guinea (H) 2 6 2  Cook Islands 2 1 3  Fiji 2 1 Source: OFC (H) Hosts |

#### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| 13 July – Port Moresby | 13 July – Port Moresby |
| New Caledonia | 5 |
| New Caledonia | 5 | 16 July – Port Moresby | 16 July – Port Moresby |
| Cook Islands | 1 | 16 July – Port Moresby | 16 July – Port Moresby |
| Cook Islands | 1 | New Caledonia | 0 |
| 13 July – Port Moresby | 13 July – Port Moresby | | New Caledonia | 0 |
| 13 July – Port Moresby | 13 July – Port Moresby | Papua New Guinea | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3 | Papua New Guinea | 1 |
| Samoa | 0 | | |
| Samoa | 0 | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | 16 July – Port Moresby | 16 July – Port Moresby |
| | | Cook Islands | 2 |
| | | Samoa | 0 |

### Second stage

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Papua New Guinea | 1–7 | New Zealand | 1–7 | Canc. |

## UEFA

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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
Sweden earned UEFA's last Olympic qualification place by winning the qualifying tournament.

### Olympic qualifying tournament

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Sweden | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Netherlands (H) | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Norway | 3 | 3 |