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1996 Women's Olympic Football Tournament

Tournament details
Host country	United States
Dates	July 21 – August 1
Teams	8 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)	5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	United States (1st title)
Runners-up	China
Third place	Norway
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	53 (3.31 per match)
Attendance	691,762 (43,235 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Pretinha Ann Kristin Aarønes Linda Medalen (4 goals each)
Fair play award	United States
2000 →

Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Qualification
	men	women
Tournament
	men	women
Squads
	men	women
v t e

The 1996 Summer Olympics—based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States—marked the first time that women participated in the Olympic association football tournament. 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, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Birmingham, Alabama 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.

The United States became the inaugural champion after a 2–1 victory against China in the gold medal game.

Competition schedule

Qualification

The qualification system for the inaugural women's football tournament was based on the results of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. Seven best teams and the host nation were qualified for the tournament. As the third-ranked United States team was already qualified as the host, its spot was passed down to the eighth-ranked team, Japan. England was ranked seventh, but due to it not being an IOC member, its spot was passed down to the ninth-ranked Brazil.

• Asia (AFC)
  •  China
  •  Japan
• South America (CONMEBOL)
  •  Brazil
• Europe (UEFA)
  •  Denmark
  •  Germany
  •  Norway
  •  Sweden
• North and Central America (CONCACAF)
  •  United States – host nation

Venues

The tournament was held in five stadiums across five cities:

Athens, Georgia		Birmingham, Alabama		Miami, Florida		OrlandoBirminghamMiamiWashington D.C.Athens
Sanford Stadium		Legion Field		Orange Bowl
Capacity: 86,100		Capacity: 81,700		Capacity: 74,476
Orlando, Florida			Washington, D.C.
Citrus Bowl			Robert F. Kennedy Stadium
Capacity: 65,000			Capacity: 56,500

Squads

Match officials

Group stage

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China	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

United States	3–0	Denmark
Venturini 37' Hamm 41' Milbrett 49'	Report (FIFA)

Sweden	0–2	China
	Report (FIFA)	Shi Guihong 31' Zhao Lihong 32'

United States	2–1	Sweden
Venturini 15' MacMillan 62'	Report (FIFA)	Overbeck 64' (o.g.)

Denmark	1–5	China
Madsen 55'	Report (FIFA)	Shi Guihong 10' Liu Ailing 49' Sun Qingmei 29', 59' Fan Yunjie 36'

United States	0–0	China
	Report (FIFA)

Denmark	1–3	Sweden
Jensen 90'	Report (FIFA)	Swedberg 62', 68' Videkull 76'

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	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

Germany	3–2	Japan
Wiegmann 5' Tomei 29' (o.g.) Mohr 52'	Report (FIFA)	Kioka 18' Noda 33'

Norway	2–2	Brazil
Medalen 32' Aarønes 68'	Report (FIFA)	Pretinha 57', 89'

Brazil	2–0	Japan
Kátia 68' Pretinha 78'	Report (FIFA)

Norway	3–2	Germany
Aarønes 5' Medalen 34' Riise 65'	Report (FIFA)	Wiegmann 32' Prinz 62'

Brazil	1–1	Germany
Sissi 53'	Report (FIFA)	Wunderlich 4'

Norway	4–0	Japan
Pettersen 25', 86' Medalen 60' Tangeraas 74'	Report (FIFA)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	July 28 – Athens, GA
	China	3
					August 1 – Athens, GA
	Brazil	2
					China	1
	July 28 – Athens, GA
					United States	2
	Norway	1
	United States (AET)	2
					Third place
					August 1 – Athens, GA
					Brazil	0
					Norway	2

Semi-finals

China	3–2	Brazil
Qingmei 5' Haiying 83', 90'	Report	Roseli 67' Pretinha 72'

Norway	1–2 (a.e.t./g.g.)	United States
Medalen 18'	Report	Akers 76' (pen) MacMillan 100'

Bronze medal match

Brazil	0–2	Norway
	Report	Aarønes 21', 25'

Gold medal match

China	1–2	United States
Sun 32'	Report	MacMillan 19' Milbrett 68'

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

• Pretinha
• Ann Kristin Aarønes
• Linda Medalen

3 goals

• Sun Qingmei
• Shannon MacMillan

2 goals

• Shi Guihong
• Wei Haiying
• Bettina Wiegmann
• Marianne Pettersen
• Malin Swedberg
• Tiffeny Milbrett
• Tisha Venturini

1 goal

• Kátia
• Roseli
• Sissi
• Fan Yunjie
• Liu Ailing
• Sun Wen
• Zhao Lihong
• Helle Jensen
• Lene Madsen
• Heidi Mohr
• Birgit Prinz
• Pia Wunderlich
• Futaba Kioka
• Akemi Noda
• Hege Riise
• Trine Tangeraas
• Lena Videkull
• Michelle Akers
• Mia Hamm

1 own goal

• Yumi Tomei (against Germany)
• Carla Overbeck (against Sweden)

Source: FIFA

Assists

4 assists

• Roseli
• Sun Qingmei

2 assists

• Shi Guihong
• Linda Medalen

1 assist

• Fanta
• Fan Yunjie
• Sun Wen
• Zhao Lihong
• Lisbet Kolding
• Gitte Krogh
• Lene Madsen
• Martina Voss
• Futaba Kioka
• Agnete Carlsen
• Gro Espeseth
• Hege Riise
• Brit Sandaune
• Tina Svensson
• Trine Tangeraas
• Kristin Bengtsson
• Ulrika Kalte
• Pia Sundhage
• Michelle Akers
• Julie Foudy
• Mia Hamm
• Kristine Lilly

Source: FIFA

FIFA Fair Play Award

• Winner:  United States

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

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	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

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. Women's Olympic Football Tournament Atlanta 1996
5. "USA - Denmark". FIFA. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
6. "Sweden - China PR". FIFA. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
7. "USA - Sweden". FIFA. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
8. "Denmark - China PR". FIFA. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
9. "USA - China PR". FIFA. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
10. "Denmark - Sweden". FIFA. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
11. "Germany - Japan". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
12. "Norway - Brazil". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
13. "Brazil - Japan". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
14. "Norway - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
15. "Brazil - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
16. "Norway - Germany". FIFA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
17. ^ Statistics – Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta '96. Zürich. 1996. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

• Olympic Football Tournaments Atlanta 1996 - Women, FIFA.com
• RSSSF Summary
• FIFA Technical Report (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4)

v t e Football at the Summer Olympics
General	1896 (unofficial) 1900 1904 1906 (unofficial) 1908 1912 consolation 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Tournaments	Men 1896 (unofficial) 1900 1904 1906 (unofficial) 1908 1912 consolation 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Women 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Qualifications	Men 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Women 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Finals	Men 1920 1960 1964 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Women 2020 2024
Squads	Men 1900 1904 1906 (unofficial) 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Overage players Women 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Related topics	List of medalists Records men women Hat-tricks men List of venues List of official match balls
Category Commons

• Women's football at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Women's football at the Summer Olympics
• 1996 in women's association football
• International women's association football competitions hosted by the United States
• Sports competitions in Athens, Georgia