The final pitted host Brazil against defending world champions Germany, with both teams seeking their first Olympic title despite having won a combined nine World Cups. Both opposing coaches — Rogerio Micale for Brazil and Horst Hrubesch for Germany — downplayed the fact that the gold medal match was a rematch of the 2014 World Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte, known in Brazil as the "Mineirazo" after Germany had won 7–1.