2016 Rio Olympics Football Draw - Africa's Path

Olympic-bound
South Africa's women's team Banyana Banyana

Africa now knows its path to gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournament.

The Olympic football tournament will have a total of 58 matches with 32 for the men and 26 for the women.

Africa will have three teams in the men’s competition (Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa) and two in the women’s (South Africa and Zimbabwe).

In the women’s draw, South Africa has been given a tough assignment having been drawn into Group E alongside hosts Brazil as well as China and Sweden. Zimbabwe, who upset Cameroon to qualify, will compete in Group F against Canada, Australia and juggernauts, Germany.

South Africa’s men’s team will also face-off against the hosts and kick-off their campaign against Brazil at the Estadio Mane Garrincha in Brasilia. Also in South Africa’s Group A is Iraq and Denmark.

Nigeria, Olympic winners in 1996, will fancy their chances of progressing out of Group B where they have been drawn against Sweden, Colombia and Japan.

Africa’s final team in the men’s competition, Algeria, has a slightly tougher task. The North Africa nation faces Honduras and the difficult pair of Portugal and Argentina who won the title in 2004 and 2008 and is again one of the pre-tournament favourites.

The tournament gets under way on August 3 with five other cities aside from Rio staging games: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo. Both finals will be played at the Estadio Maracana with the women going for gold on August 19 and the men following suit the next day.

Rio 2016 Full Draw:

Men

Group A: Brazil, South Africa, Iraq, Denmark

Group B: Sweden, Colombia, Nigeria, Japan

Group C: Fiji, Korea Republic, Mexico, Germany

Group D: Honduras, Algeria, Portugal, Argentina

Women

Group E: Brazil, China, Sweden, South Africa

Group G: USA, New Zealand, France, Colombia

Group F: Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe, Germany