Olympics 2020 women's football groups: Who's playing who in the group stage?

The women’s football tournament at the Tokyo Olympics will feature 12 teams, split into three groups of four.

After playing each other once, the top two from each group will then progress to the quarter-finals, alongside the two best third-place teams.

In addition to the hosts Japan, 11 teams qualified for the tournament from six different confederations – UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania), AFC (Asia), CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (North America).

Europe leads the way with three representatives – Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden – who qualified courtesy of their performance in the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

It was agreed between the home nations that Great Britain would be judged on how England fared at the tournament, in which they reached the semi-finals under Phil Neville.

Reigning champions Germany, who beat Sweden 2-1 in the final of the 2016 Olympics, will not be in contention to defend their title this summer.

Team GB Olympics 2020 football squad: full women's team

Team GB Olympics 2020 football fixtures: Who do Team GB play in Tokyo?

Great Britain are amongst the favourites to win the gold medal, but expect to face tough competition from the USA, Brazil, Japan and the Netherlands.

The USA have an excellent record in women’s football at the Olympics, having won four of the last six tournaments.

Their hugely experienced squad features several star names, including Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and 38-year-old Carli Lloyd, who has won more than 300 caps for her country.

She has great Olympic pedigree too, having previously scored the decisive goals in the 2008 and 2012 finals.

The three women’s groups are called E, F and G to distinguish them from the four men’s groups – A, B, C and D.

Group E – Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile

Group F – China, Brazil, Zambia, Netherlands

Group G – Sweden, United States, Australia, New Zealand