Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics

As usual, the football events were held in various sites spread over the organizing nation. The new Wembley Stadium, built on the site of the demolished venue of the 1948 Olympics, hosted the finals. Well-known sites were picked for the other matches: Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (Wales), Hampden Park in Glasgow (Scotland), Old Trafford in Manchester, St. James’ Park in Newcastle and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry (renamed City of Coventry Stadium to avoid the sponsor name). No changes were made to the format, which allowed 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams. As in previous Olympics, male players had to be 23-years-old or younger, with the exception of three team members.

Notable was the presence of two British teams. In all other contemporary football competitions, the four “home nations” (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) play independently, and the last time a British team had competed at the Olympics was 1960. It had failed to qualify from 1964 through 1972, and had not entered qualification since in 1976.