# Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

Twelve teams competed in the women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In addition to the United Kingdom, the host nation, 11 women's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations.

## Table

| Means of qualification | Date of completion | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 2005 | none | 1 | Great Britain |
| AFC Preliminary Competition | 11 September 2011 | China | 2 | Japan North Korea |
| CAF Preliminary Competition | 22 October 2011 | multiple | 2 | Cameroon South Africa |
| CONCACAF Preliminary Competition | 29 January 2012 | Canada | 2 | United States Canada |
| CONMEBOL Preliminary Competition | 21 November 2010 | Ecuador | 2 | Brazil Colombia |
| OFC Preliminary Competition | 4 April 2012 | multiple | 1 | New Zealand |
| Best UEFA teams in 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup | 17 July 2011 | Germany | 2 | Sweden France |
| Total | | | 12 | |
* ^1 Locations are those of final tournaments, various qualification stages may precede matches at these specific venues.

## AFC

Japan and North Korea earned Olympic qualification places by finishing in the top two of the final round.

### First round

| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Vietnam 4 10 2  Thailand 4 9 3  Chinese Taipei (H) 4 5 4  Myanmar 4 4 5  Hong Kong 4 0 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Uzbekistan 2 4 2  India 2 4 3  Bangladesh (H) 2 0 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Iran 3 7 2  Jordan (H) 3 5 3  Bahrain 3 2 4  Palestine 3 1 Source: AFC (H) Hosts |

### Second round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Thailand | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | Vietnam | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Jordan (H) | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Iran | 4 | 0 |

### Final round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Japan | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | North Korea | 5 | 11 |
| 3 | Australia | 5 | 9 |
| 4 | China (H) | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | South Korea | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | Thailand | 5 | 0 |

## CAF

Cameroon and South Africa earned Olympic qualification places by winning their final round ties.

### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Botswana | 2–6 | Zambia | 1–4 | 1–2 |

### Second round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Gabon | w/o | Equatorial Guinea | | |
| Angola | 2–2 (a) | Namibia | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Congo | w/o | Nigeria | | |
| Cameroon | 6–0 | Mali | 5–0 | 1–0 |
| Guinea | 1–7 | Ghana | 1–2 | 0–5 |
| DR Congo | 0–3 | Ethiopia | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Morocco | 1–3 | Tunisia | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| Zambia | 1–5 | South Africa | 1–2 | 0–3 |

### Third round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ethiopia | 2–2 (a) | Ghana | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Cameroon | 0–2$^1$ | Equatorial Guinea | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Nigeria | 9–0 | Namibia | 7–0 | 2–0 |
| South Africa | 1–1 (6–5 p) | Tunisia | 1–0 | 0–1 |
$^1$ Equatorial Guinea were ejected from the competition for fielding an ineligible player, Jade Boho; Cameroon were advanced to the final round.

### Final round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Nigeria | 3–3 (3–4 p) | Cameroon | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| South Africa | 4–1 | Ethiopia | 3–0 | 1–1 |

## CONCACAF

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

### Preliminary round
#### Caribbean Zone

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Haiti 3 7 2  Cuba 3 7 3  Suriname 3 3 4  Aruba (H) 3 0 Source: CONCACAF (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Dominican Republic (H) 3 9 2  Trinidad and Tobago 3 6 3  Bermuda 3 3 4  Dominica 3 0 Source: CONCACAF (H) Hosts |
Ranking of second-placed teams
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Cuba | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 6 |

#### Central American Zone

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Costa Rica | 4 | 12 |
| 2 | Guatemala (H) | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | El Salvador | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | Honduras | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Nicaragua | 4 | 0 |

### Group stage

| Group A | Group B |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Canada (H) 3 9 2  Costa Rica 3 6 3  Haiti 3 3 4  Cuba 3 0 Source: CONCACAF (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  United States 3 9 2  Mexico 3 6 3  Guatemala 3 3 4  Dominican Republic 3 0 Source: CONCACAF |

### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| January 27 – Vancouver | January 27 – Vancouver |
| Canada | 3 |
| Canada | 3 | January 29 – Vancouver | January 29 – Vancouver |
| Mexico | 1 | January 29 – Vancouver | January 29 – Vancouver |
| Mexico | 1 | Canada | 0 |
| January 27 – Vancouver | January 27 – Vancouver | | Canada | 0 |
| January 27 – Vancouver | January 27 – Vancouver | United States | 4 |
| United States | 3 | United States | 4 |
| Costa Rica | 0 | | |

## CONMEBOL

Brazil and Colombia earned Olympic qualification places by finishing in the top two of the second round of the South American Women's Football Championship.

### First stage

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

### Second stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Colombia | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Chile | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Argentina | 3 | 1 |

## OFC

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

### First stage
#### Round-robin

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Tonga (H) | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Samoa | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 3 | 0 |

#### Knockout round

| Final | Final |
| 7 March 2012 – Nukuʻalofa | 7 March 2012 – Nukuʻalofa |
| Papua New Guinea | 2 |
| Tonga | 0 |
| Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| 7 March 2012 – Nukuʻalofa | 7 March 2012 – Nukuʻalofa |
| Samoa | 0 |
| Vanuatu | 2 |

### Final stage

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| New Zealand | 15–0 | Papua New Guinea | 8–0 | 7–0 |

## UEFA

France and Sweden earned Olympic qualification places by finishing as the best UEFA teams in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.