Internationally, soccer in the Summer Olympics is huge. Sixteen men's teams and a dozen women's teams will head to Rio with their eyes on medals this summer.
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THE FORMAT
The men's soccer tournament will feature 16 teams split into four groups. The four teams will each play three matches against each other, and the first and second place teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Group winners will play group runners-up to start in what will be a bracket-style tournament the rest of the way. The losers of the semifinal matches will meet with bronze metals on the line.
The men's tournament has been reserved for youth squads from across the globe, though each team does send a few veterans as well to help bolster their sides.
The women will play a similar tournament, though there's no age limitation. As a result, this tournament is incredibly important and is taken almost as seriously as the World Cup.
Twelve teams will be split into three groups of four, and each team will play three group stage matches. The winners and runners-up from each of the three groups will advance to the quarterfinals along with the two top-rated third place teams. The tournament will go into a bracket from there.
HISTORY OF SOCCER IN THE SUMMER OLYMPICS
The men's tournament in the Olympics isn't considered all that important, and that's why the results are all over the board. Argentina has had a good history of late, winning gold medals in 2004 and 2008, but we've seen Cameroon, Nigeria and Mexico win gold just since 1996.
An interesting trend worth consider though, is that the team which won the third place game posted a shutout in seven straight matches. It's a reasonable expectation for these young kids though, as they don't want to come back just a couple days after losing to play another match.
The United States women's team has been to the gold medal match in all five tournaments in the Olympic Games. The Yanks won the even in four of the five, losing in sudden death overtime to Norway.
Brazil has reached at least the third place game in four of the five Olympic Games, while Japan, a finalist in 2012, was fourth best in 2008.
TEAMS TO WATCH
Brazil's men's squad will have a little bit of pressure on it as the host nation, especially after the senior squad failed at the World Cup at home just a couple years ago. It's a shame that Luciano isn't eligible to play in this tournament, as he was the top scorer on the U-23 team before he aged out. Gabriel, who plays at Santos will now lead the way, possibly as the captain of the squad at the ripe age of 19.
Colombia's young team was able to eliminate the United States from the tournament, and deep teams with rich soccer history like Germany, Argentina and Mexico are certainly worth watching as well.
Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, Fiji, Honduras, Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq, Japan and South Korea round out this tournament.
On the women's side, the United States will be the overwhelming favorite, especially with England and Japan not qualifying. Colombia and Australia are up and coming teams to watch, while France, Germany, Brazil and Canada are the most via threats to the Yanks.
Sweden, China, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and South Africa are the other teams in the Olympics.
AND THE GOLD MEDALS GO TO…
The men's side of this tournament is just far too unpredictable, but we do love to analyze recent form. Colombia's young team is super talented and could be ready to take that next step after beating the United States in the playoff to get to this point, especially with Roger Martinez now having five goals in four matches for his nation.
The United States women have had a fantastic last 12 months or so. They won the World Cup, were virtually flawless in the Victory Tour, then performed incredibly well in the SheBelieves Cup against some great teams. With a motivated side and a lot of great history here, we see no reason why the Yanks won't once again capture gold medals.
Olympics odds at BookMaker.eu
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