Olympic football is back! What is the format of the tournament, which stars can we look forward to and who are the favourites?

In just a few days, the Summer Olympic Games will start. After a year’s postponement, they will be held in Tokyo, Japan, and football will be on the agenda. Who to watch in the rules-influenced nominations, how the group draw looks and who is the biggest favourite for the tournament?

What’s the difference from other events?

Football is definitely not the most watched sport at the Olympics. The popularity is reduced by the regulations restricting nominations. In fact, only players born after and including 1997 and three exceptions from any age category can be selected.

In addition, the tournament starts during the peak of pre-season preparations and many players are rightfully not even allowed by the clubs. The national coaches are also different from the norm, as they have to improvise a lot when making nominations. Traditionally, coaches from the youth categories are coaching.

But in this way, the Olympics gives young, inexperienced footballers a chance to experience big games and at the same time show themselves to the football world. However, it all depends on the national teams. For example, such Spain enlisted 6 EURO participants and thus sovereignly put itself in the role of the favorite.

Nominations of the favourites

The biggest countries in the tournament are defending champion Brazil, football power Argentina and the three European countries Spain, France and Germany – last year’s finalist. How have these countries approached the tournament?

As mentioned, Spain brought the best team to Tokyo. The market value of the 22-member national team reaches 563 million euros. The next team in this ranking is Brazil, which is less than 200 million behind. Germany, Argentina and France then fit into the range between 120 and 130 million.

Spain

Coach Luis de la Fuente brought a really loaded squad to the championship. The biggest stars are the six participants of this year’s EURO Pedri, Dani Olmo, Oyarzabal, Pau Torres, Eric García and goalkeeper Unai Simón.

Other players who are definitely worth watching are Marco Asensio, his teammate Dani Ceballos or Barcelona academy products Cucurella from Getafe and Mingueza – still loyal to the Catalan club.

Brazil

Brazil came to the championship with the aim of defending their victory. However, compared to the last Olympics, they will be missing stars like Neymar and Marquinhos. But the nomination still contains plenty of South American talent.

Richarlison, Sevilla stopper Diego Carlos and Aston Villa talent Douglas Luiz are all here to show their stuff. Brazil’s typical talent on the wings should be shown by former Barcelona player Malcom, Arsenal winger Martinelli or injury returnee Paulinho from Bayer Leverkusen. The 38-year-old captain Dani Alves should be the leader of the team.

Germany

A wave of controversy has surrounded the German team, particularly over racism in the preliminary match against Honduras. The target of the insults was the stopper Torunarigha, who should be one of the team’s driving forces.

Wolfsburg’s Maximilian Arnold is the team’s most high-profile exception. Along with him, Bayer Leverkusen star Nadiem Amiri should also form the midfield. The oldest player of the team is only 33 years old Max Kruse. On the other hand, the young talents to watch are Hertha midfielder Maier or stopper Uduokhai.

Argentina

With a considerably weaker and lesser-known squad, Argentina travelled to Asia. Two of the biggest draws will be two talents of Argentine football, 20-year-olds Thiago Almada and Pedro de la Vega.

The driving force of the team should then be Spartak Moscow’s 24-year-old spike striker Ponce. The oldest member of the nomination is Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremías Ledesma, 28. Neither of the Argentine Olympians played in the victorious Copa de América this year.

France

The fifth and final team we’ll look at is France. The latter came with the weakest line-up of the other selections mentioned. The most valuable players are Thauvin, Tousard and Savanier, the first and last named being the exceptions.

The third one is the 35-year-old striker Gignac, who is Thauvin’s new teammate in Tigres.

Other interesting names from the nominations

Ivory Coast also arrived with a strong line-up. Kessié, or the two Manchester United stars Bailly and Diallo, will be in his jersey. For New Zealand, Chris Wood, a teammate of Matej Vydra from Burnley, will come. And for the first time in a long time, we will see the legendary Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa back in action.

Group draw and schedule

The Olympic Games will offer four groups of four teams with two qualifiers. A small group of death was born in Group D. Saudi Arabia will complete the group with three strong teams of Brazil, Germany and Ivory Coast.

Group C will then offer a duel between Spain and Argentina. The other teams in this group are Australia and Egypt. The least attractive Group B consists of Romania, Honduras, New Zealand and South Korea. The remaining Group A consists of France, Mexico, South Africa and hosts Japan.

The tournament kicks off on Thursday 22 July with a morning match between Spain and Egypt. The highlight of the round will be a 1:30 p.m. replay of the last final between Brazil and Germany. In the second round three days later, Brazil and Ivory Coast will be the most attractive contest.

Germany will then meet Ivory Coast in the last round of the group stages, and the climax of Group C will be Spain’s match with Argentina.

Sources used: Transfermarkt, Livesport