MENS – South American teams

By Motin Yeung

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Argentina

Argentina secured the only direct qualification slot from South America by winning the South American U-20 Championship. They comfortably dominated their group, beating Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, and they only lost one game to Paraguay. In the later phrase of the tournament, Argentina maintained its momentum as they beat Peru and Brazil, drew with Colombia, and finally beat the host Uruguay in the finals to claim the title.

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Colombia

Their qualification pathway is a little more complicated than that of other countries. FIFA wrote two additional qualification rules for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean teams and the South American teams. The third placed team from The CONCACAF tournament will have to play against the second placed team from the CONMEBOL tournament for a spot to the Olympics. Last year, Colombia and USA finished second and third respectively, so they played a 2-leg playoff tournament. Colombia beat USA in the first leg with a 2-1 victory, and they tied the second match with 1 goal from each side.

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Brazil

As the host country, Brazil automatically gets a spot to the Olympics. Their performances in the CONMEBOL tournament would not have gotten them to the Olympics otherwise.

How to cite this page: “MENS – South American teams”, Written by Motin Yeung (2016). Journey to Rio, Olympic Football 2016 Guide, Soccer Politics Blog, Duke University, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/tournament-guides/olympic-football-2016-guide/journey-to-rio-qualification-process-rules-for-2016-olympic-games/mens-south-american-teams/ (accessed on (date)).

Sources:

  1. FIFA website. Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 page. http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/teams/