Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The 1996 Summer Olympics—based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States—marked the first time that women participated in the Olympic association football tournament.[1][2] The tournament featured eight women's national teams from four continental confederations. The teams were drawn into two groups of four and each group played a round-robin tournament (which was held in Miami, Orlando, Birmingham and Washington, D.C.). At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage (which was held at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia), beginning with the semi-finals and culminating with the gold medal match on August 1, 1996.

1996 Women's Olympic Football Tournament
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
DatesJuly 21 – August 1
Teams8 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions United States (1st title)
Runners-up China PR
Third place Norway
Fourth place Brazil
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored53 (3.31 per match)
Attendance691,762 (43,235 per match)
Top scorer(s) Pretinha
Ann Kristin Aarønes
Linda Medalen
(4 goals each)
Fair play award United States
Football at the
1996 Summer Olympics
Qualification
menwomen
Tournament
menwomen
Squads
menwomen

The United States won the tournament after a 2–1 victory against China in the gold medal game.[3]

Competition schedule
GGroup stage ½Semifinals B3rd place play-off FFinal
Sun 21Mon 22Tue 23Wed 24Thu 25Fri 26Sat 27Sun 28Mon 29Tue 30Wed 31Thu 1
GGG½BF

Qualification
Main article: Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

Eight teams qualified for the 1996 Olympic women's football tournament, the hosts United States and the seven other best ranked teams at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. England was ineligible to qualify for the tournament.

Venues

The tournament was held in five venues across five cities:

Squads
Main article: Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's team squads

Match officials

Group stage

Group E
Main article: Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament – Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  China PR 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7 Semi-finals
2  United States (H) 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 7
3  Sweden 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  Denmark 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Host.
United States 3–0 Denmark
Venturini  37'
Hamm  41'
Milbrett  49'		 Report (FIFA)
Attendance: 25,303[4]
Referee: Cláudia de Vasconcellos (Brazil)
Sweden 0–2 China PR
Report (FIFA) Shi Guihong  31'
Zhao Lihong  32'
Attendance: 46,724[5]
United States 2–1 Sweden
Venturini  15'
MacMillan  62'		 Report (FIFA) Overbeck  64' (o.g.)
Attendance: 28,000[6]
Referee: Bente Ovedie Skogvang (Norway)
Denmark 1–5 China PR
Madsen  55' Report (FIFA) Shi Guihong  10'
Liu Ailing  49'
Sun Qingmei  29', 59'
Fan Yunjie  36'
Attendance: 34,871[7]
United States 0–0 China PR
Report (FIFA)
Attendance: 55,650[8]
Denmark 1–3 Sweden
Jensen  90' Report (FIFA) Swedberg  62', 68'
Videkull  76'
Attendance: 17,020[9]
Referee: Cláudia de Vasconcellos (Brazil)

Group F
Main article: Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament – Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Norway 3 2 1 0 9 4 +5 7 Semi-finals
2  Brazil 3 1 2 0 5 3 +2 5
3  Germany 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 4
4  Japan 3 0 0 3 2 9 −7 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Germany 3–2 Japan
Wiegmann  5'
Tomei  29' (o.g.)
Mohr  52'		 Report (FIFA) Kioka  18'
Noda  33'
Attendance: 44,211[10]
Norway 2–2 Brazil
Medalen  32'
Aarønes  68'		 Report (FIFA) Pretinha  57', 89'
Attendance: 45,946[11]
Brazil 2–0 Japan
Kátia  68'
Pretinha  78'		 Report (FIFA)
Attendance: 26,111[12]
Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)
Norway 3–2 Germany
Aarønes  5'
Medalen  34'
Riise  65'		 Report (FIFA) Wiegmann  32'
Prinz  62'
Attendance: 28,000[13]
Referee: Edward McGregor Lennie (Australia)
Brazil 1–1 Germany
Sissi  53' Report (FIFA) Wunderlich  4'
Attendance: 28,319[14]
Norway 4–0 Japan
Pettersen  25', 86'
Medalen  60'
Tangeraas  74'		 Report (FIFA)
Attendance: 30,237[15]
Referee: Omar Al-Mehanna (Saudi Arabia)

Knockout stage
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
July 28 – Athens, Georgia
 
 
 China PR3
 
August 1 – Athens
 
 Brazil2
 
 China PR1
 
July 28 – Athens, Georgia
 
 United States2
 
 Norway1
 
 
 United States (AET)2
 
Third place
 
 
August 1 – Athens
 
 
 Brazil0
 
 
 Norway2

Semi-finals
China PR 3–2 Brazil
Qingmei  5'
Haiying  83', 90'		 Report Roseli  67'
Pretinha  72'
Attendance: 64,196
Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)
Norway 1–2 (a.e.t) United States
Medalen  18' Report Akers  76' (pen)
MacMillan  100'
Attendance: 64,196
Referee: Sonia Denoncourt (Canada)

Bronze medal match
Brazil 0–2 Norway
Report Aarønes  21', 25'
Attendance: 76,489
Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)

Gold medal match
China PR 1–2 United States
Wen  32' Report MacMillan  19'
Milbrett  68'
Attendance: 76,489
Referee: Bente Ovedie Skogvang (Norway)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 53 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.31 goals per match. Brazil's Pretinha and Norway's Ann Kristin Aarønes and Linda Medalen finished as the top scorers of the tournament, with each scoring four goals.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: FIFA[16]

Assists

4 assists

2 assists

1 assist

Source: FIFA[16]

FIFA Fair Play Award

The United States won the FIFA Fair Play Award, given to the team with the best record of fair play during the tournament.[16]

Tournament ranking

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1 E  United States (H) 5 4 1 0 9 3 +6 13 Gold medal
2 E  China PR 5 3 1 1 11 5 +6 10 Silver medal
3 F  Norway 5 3 1 1 12 6 +6 10 Bronze medal
4 F  Brazil 5 1 2 2 7 8 −1 5 Fourth place
5 F  Germany 3 1 1 1 6 6 0 4 Eliminated in
group stage
6 E  Sweden 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
7 F  Japan 3 0 0 3 2 9 −7 0
8 E  Denmark 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source: FIFA[16]
(H) Host.

References
  1. Vecsey, George (August 2, 1996). "Women's Soccer: 76,481 Fans, 1 U.S. Gold". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  2. "Women Sports Get a Boost". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 20, 1993. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  3. Gildea, William (August 2, 1996). "U.S. Women's Soccer Team Wins Gold". The Washington Post. Athens, Georgia. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  4. "USA - Denmark". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  5. "Sweden - China PR". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  6. "USA - Sweden". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  7. "Denmark - China PR". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  8. "USA - China PR". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  9. "Denmark - Sweden". FIFA. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  10. "Germany - Japan". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  11. "Norway - Brazil". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  12. "Brazil - Japan". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  13. "Norway - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  14. "Brazil - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  15. "Norway - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  16. Statistics – Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta '96. FIFA. Zürich. 1996.
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