2016 UEFA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
 Sweden vs. Netherlands, the top 2 teams of the tournament | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |
 Netherlands |
| Dates | 2–9 March 2016 |
| Teams | 4 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Sweden |
| Runners-up |
Netherlands |
| Third place |
 Switzerland |
| Fourth place |
 Norway |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 19 (3.17 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Manon Melis Vivianne Miedema Ada Hegerberg Rahel Kiwic (2 goals each) |
The 2016 UEFA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament was an international football competition organised by UEFA to determine the final women's national team from Europe to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics women's football tournament in Brazil. The tournament was played between 2 and 9 March 2016 in the Netherlands.[1]
Four teams participated in the tournament: Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. As the tournament winner, Sweden qualified for the last available Olympic spot from Europe, joining France and Germany, who had already qualified, as the three UEFA representatives.[2]
Background
Same as the qualification process for previous Olympics, UEFA used the FIFA Women's World Cup to determine which women's national teams from Europe qualify for the Olympic football tournament. The three teams from UEFA that progressed the furthest in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup played in Canada, other than ineligible England, would qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics women's football tournament in Brazil.[3][4] If teams in contention for the Olympic spots were eliminated in the same round, ties were not broken by their overall tournament record, and play-offs or a mini-tournament to decide the spots would be held provisionally in February/March 2016.[5]
England were ineligible for the Olympics as they were not an Olympic nation, although Great Britain did compete in 2012 as the host nation. The Football Association had originally declared on 2 March 2015 its intention to enter and run teams on behalf of the British Olympic Association at the 2016 Olympics should England qualify.[6] Following strong objections from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations, and a commitment from FIFA that they would not allow entry of a British team unless all four Home Nations agreed, the Football Association announced on 30 March 2015 that they would not seek entry into the Olympic tournament.[7]
After Norway were eliminated by England in the round of 16 on 22 June 2015, it was confirmed that two of the three spots would go to quarter-finalists France and Germany because there could not be more than three eligible European teams in the quarter-finals. Eventually no other eligible European team reached the quarter-finals, so the four European teams eliminated in the round of 16 (Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) would compete in the UEFA play-off tournament to decide the last spot.[8]
The last time a play-off was necessary to decide a European spot in the Olympic women's football tournament was when Sweden defeated Denmark over two legs to claim a place in the 2008 Olympics. Same as this time, had England been eligible to enter, they would have qualified as one of the top three UEFA teams in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, rendering the play-off unnecessary.[9]
| Team | Final result in 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup |
Qualification for 2016 Summer Olympics |
|---|---|---|
 England | Third place | Ineligible |
 Germany | Fourth place | Qualified |
 France | Eliminated in quarter-finals | |
| Netherlands | Eliminated in round of 16 | Play-off tournament |
| Norway | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Switzerland | ||
 Spain | Eliminated in group stage |
Teams
Among the four teams, only Norway and Sweden had previously played in the Olympics. Norway had played in three Olympics, and were the only European gold medalists so far, winning in 2000, and also taking bronze in 1996. Sweden had played in all five Olympics so far, but never won a medal, with their best finish being fourth in 2004.[1]
| Team | FIFA Rankings at start of event[10] |
UEFA Rankings at start of event[11] |
Squads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 12 | 8 | Netherlands squad |
| Norway | 10 | 4 | Norway squad |
| Sweden | 8 | 3 | Sweden squad |
| Switzerland | 20 | 13 | Switzerland squad |
Format
UEFA confirmed on 24 June 2015 to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that the four teams would meet each other once, making it a mini-tournament with six matches altogether.[12] With three points for a win and one for a draw, the top team after the six matches would qualify for the Olympics. The period reserved for this playoff tournament was the FIFA women’s international match date from 29 February to 9 March 2016. The four teams concerned would need to agree on the exact dates within this window. The tournament would be arranged in one of the four countries involved.
On 22 July 2015 UEFA announced that the Netherlands would host the mini-tournament, with matches taking place between 2 and 9 March 2016.[1]
Venues
Rotterdam and The Hague were confirmed as host cities by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) on 19 October 2015.[13]
| Venue | Location | Capacity | Surface | No. of matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyocera Stadion | The Hague | 15,000 | Artificial turf | 1 |
| Het Kasteel | Rotterdam | 11,000 | Grass | 2 |
| Stadion Woudestein | Rotterdam | 3,530 | Artificial turf | 3 |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | 2016 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Netherlands (H) |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | |
| 3 | Switzerland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Norway |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points between tied teams; 3) Goal difference between tied teams; 4) Goals scored between tied teams; 5) Reapply 2–4 if necessary; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Disciplinary points; 9) UEFA ranking[14]
(H) Host.
Matches
2 March 2016 19:30 |
| Switzerland |
3–4 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
Humm  4'Kiwic 74'Bachmann 83' |
Report | Melis 29' (pen.) Miedema 56'Van den Berg 61'Van de Sanden 63' |
5 March 2016 19:30 |
| Norway |
4–1 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Haavi 30' Mjelde 61'Ad. Hegerberg 82', 90+1' |
Report | Melis 67' |
Goalscorers
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Qualified teams for Olympics
After the conclusion of the qualifying tournament, the following three teams from UEFA qualified for the Olympic football tournament.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| France | 22 June 2015 | 1 (2012) |
| Germany | 22 June 2015 | 4 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
| Sweden | 9 March 2016 | 5 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
References
- 1 2 3 "Netherlands to stage Olympic qualifiers". uefa.com. UEFA. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ↑ "Sweden seal Europe's last ticket to Rio". FIFA.com. 9 March 2016.
- ↑ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football" (pdf). Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "Germany and Norway drawn together". UEFA.com. 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "European contenders impress in Canada". UEFA.com. 18 June 2015.
- ↑ "Football Association wants Great Britain sides at Rio Olympics". BBC Sport. 2 March 2015.
- ↑ "Rio 2016: FA scraps plans for Great Britain football teams". BBC Sport. 30 March 2015.
- ↑ "Germany, France qualify for Rio 2016". FIFA. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ "Olympic play-off dates set". UEFA.com. 10 October 2007.
- ↑ "FIFA Women's Ranking – 18 December 2015 (UEFA)". FIFA.com.
- ↑ "UEFA Women's National Team Coefficient Ranking – 27 November 2014 (UEFA)" (PDF). UEFA.
- ↑ Slik blir playoffen: Seks kamper avgjør Norges OL-skjebne. Dagbladet, Norway 24th of June 2015
- ↑ "Kwalificatie OS 2016 in Rotterdam en Den Haag". KNVB. 19 October 2015.
- ↑ "Info on the Olympic Qualifying Tournament". KNVB. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ↑ "European play off 1st and 2nd rounds – Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2016". UEFA. KNVB. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ↑ "European play off 3rd round – Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2016". UEFA. KNVB. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ↑ "Sverige - Norge" (in Norwegian). fotball.no. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Olympic Qualification – Switzerland - Netherlands match report" (in Dutch). onsoranje.nl. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ "2016 Olympic Qualification – Norway - Netherlands match report" (in Dutch). onsoranje.nl. Retrieved 6 March 2016.