# Football at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

Sixteen teams qualified for the men's Olympic football tournament. In addition to host nation Japan, 15 men's national teams qualified from six separate continental confederations.

## Table

| Means of qualification | Dates | Venue(s) | Berth(s) | Qualified |
| Host nation | — | — | 1 | Japan |
| 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | 16–30 June 2019 | Italy San Marino | 4 | Spain Germany France Romania |
| 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 21 September – 5 October 2019 | Fiji | 1 | New Zealand |
| 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations | 8–22 November 2019 | Egypt | 3 | Egypt Ivory Coast South Africa |
| 2020 AFC U-23 Championship | 8–26 January 2020 | Thailand | 3 | South Korea Saudi Arabia Australia |
| 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | 18 January – 9 February 2020 | Colombia | 2 | Argentina Brazil |
| 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship | 18–30 March 2021 | Mexico | 2 | Mexico Honduras |
| Total | | | 16 | |
* ^1 Dates and venues are those of final tournaments (or final round of qualification tournaments), various qualification stages may precede matches at these specific venues.

## 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
### Qualified teams

| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Italy | Hosts | 9 December 2016 | 20th | 2017 (semi-finals) | Champions (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004) |
| Spain | Group 2 winners | 6 September 2018 | 14th | 2017 (runners-up) | Champions (1986, 1998, 2011, 2013) |
| France | Group 9 winners | 7 September 2018 | 9th | 2006 (semi-finals) | Champions (1988) |
| England | Group 4 winners | 11 October 2018 | 15th | 2017 (semi-finals) | Champions (1982, 1984) |
| Serbia | Group 7 winners | 12 October 2018 | 11th | 2017 (group stage) | Champions (1978) (as Yugoslavia) |
| Germany | Group 5 winners | 12 October 2018 | 12th | 2017 (champions) | Champions (2009, 2017) |
| Croatia | Group 1 winners | 15 October 2018 | 3rd | 2004 (group stage) | Group stage (2000, 2004) |
| Denmark | Group 3 winners | 16 October 2018 | 8th | 2017 (group stage) | Semi-finals (1992, 2015) |
| Belgium | Group 6 winners | 16 October 2018 | 3rd | 2007 (semi-finals) | Semi-finals (2007) |
| Romania | Group 8 winners | 16 October 2018 | 2nd | 1998 (quarter-finals) | Quarter-finals (1998) |
| Poland | Play-off winners | 20 November 2018 | 7th | 2017 (group stage) | Quarter-finals (1982, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1994) |
| Austria | Play-off winners | 20 November 2018 | 1st | — | Debut |

#### Notes

* ^ The constituent countries of the UK are represented individually at FIFA (and, thus, UEFA) tournaments, but together at the Olympics. While in the women's competition, the football associations of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland allowed their players to compete as Great Britain in the Olympics, they did not in the men's, with the concern that it would threaten their independence in other competitions. While England's position would qualify a Great Britain team, the football associations refused to be represented. Great Britain did not send either a women's or men's football team to the 2016 Olympics, due to the same issue, though contested the event with both teams at home in 2012.
* ^ Appearances include 4 as Yugoslavia and 2 as Serbia and Montenegro. Their previous best performance as Serbia was runners-up (2007).

## 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations
### Qualified teams

| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Egypt (hosts) | 3rd | Third place (2011) |
| Cameroon | 1st | Debut |
| Ghana | 1st | Debut |
| Ivory Coast | 2nd | Group stage (2011) |
| Mali | 2nd | Group stage (2015) |
| Nigeria | 3rd | Champions (2015) |
| South Africa | 3rd | Third place (2015) |
| Zambia | 2nd | Group stage (2015) |

## 2020 AFC U-23 Championship
### Qualified teams

| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Thailand | Hosts | 3rd | Group stage (2016, 2018) |
| Qatar | Group A winners | 3rd | Third place (2018) |
| Bahrain | Group B winners | 1st | Debut |
| Iraq | Group C winners | 4th | Champions (2013) |
| United Arab Emirates | Group D winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013, 2016) |
| Jordan | Group E winners | 4th | Third place (2013) |
| Uzbekistan | Group F winners | 4th | Champions (2018) |
| North Korea | Group G winners | 4th | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| South Korea | Group H winners | 4th | Runners-up (2016) |
| Japan | Group I winners | 4th | Champions (2016) |
| China | Group J winners | 4th | Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018) |
| Vietnam | Group K winners | 3rd | Runners-up (2018) |
| Australia | Group H runners-up | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Iran | Group C runners-up | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| Syria | Group E runners-up | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group D runners-up | 4th | Runners-up (2013) |
Notes:
* 1 2 3 4 The four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

## 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

## 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship
### Qualified teams

| Team | Qualification zone | Appearance | Previous best performance | Previous men's Olympic appearances |
| Canada | North America (automatic) | 9th | Runner-up (1984, 1996) | 3 |
| Mexico (hosts & title holders) | North America (automatic) | 12th | Winner (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004, 2012, 2015) | 11 |
| United States | North America (automatic) | 11th | Winner (1988, 1992) | 14 |
| Costa Rica | Central America | 7th | Winner (1980, 1984) | 3 |
| El Salvador | Central America | 12th | Third Place (2012) | 1 |
| Honduras | Central America | 10th | Winner (2000, 2008) | 4 |
| Dominican Republic | Caribbean | 1st | Debutant | 0 |
| Haiti | Caribbean | 3rd | Group stage (2008, 2015) | 0 |