Contents

Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

2012 Women's Olympic Football Tournament

Tournament details
Host country	United Kingdom
Dates	25 July – 9 August
Teams	12 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	United States (4th title)
Runners-up	Japan
Third place	Canada
Fourth place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	71 (2.73 per match)
Attendance	660,986 (25,423 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Christine Sinclair (6 goals)
Fair play award	United States
← 2008 2016 →

Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Qualification
	men	women
Tournament
	men	women
Squads
	men	women
v t e

The women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in London and five other cities in the United Kingdom from 25 July to 9 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their women's teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 11 teams, plus the hosts Great Britain reached the final tournament. There are no age restrictions for the players participating in the tournament. It is the first major FIFA affiliated women's tournament to be staged within the United Kingdom, and marked the first time a team representing Great Britain took part in the women's tournament.

Qualifying[edit]

Each National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team in the football tournament.

Means of qualification	Date of completion	Venue1	Berths	Qualified
Host nation	2005	none	1	Great Britain
AFC Preliminary Competition	11 September 2011	China[1]	2	Japan  North Korea
CAF Preliminary Competition	22 October 2011[2]	multiple	2	Cameroon  South Africa
CONCACAF Preliminary Competition	29 January 2012	Canada[3]	2	United States  Canada
CONMEBOL Preliminary Competition	21 November 2010	Ecuador	2	Brazil  Colombia
OFC Preliminary Competition	4 April 2012	multiple	1	New Zealand
Best UEFA teams in 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup	17 July 2011	Germany	2	Sweden  France
TOTAL			12

Venues[edit]

The tournament was held in six venues across six cities:

• Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
• City of Coventry Stadium, Coventry
• Hampden Park, Glasgow
• Wembley Stadium, London
• Old Trafford, Manchester
• St James' Park, Newcastle

Draw[edit]

The draw for the tournament took place on 24 April 2012.^[4] Great Britain, Japan and the United States were seeded for the draw and placed into groups E–G, respectively.^[5] The remaining teams were drawn from four pots.^[6]

Squads[edit]

The women's tournament is a full international tournament with no restrictions on age. Each nation must submit a squad of 18 players.

Match officials[edit]

On 19 April 2012, FIFA released the list of match referees that would officiate at the Olympics.^[7]

Group stage[edit]

Group winners and runners-up and the two best third-ranked teams advanced to the quarter-finals (also see Tie breakers).

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).

Group E[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Great Britain	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9	Qualified for the quarter-finals
2	Brazil	3	2	0	1	6	1	+5	6
3	New Zealand	3	1	0	2	3	3	0	3
4	Cameroon	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

Great Britain	1–0	New Zealand
Houghton 64'	Report

Attendance: 24,445^[8]

Referee: Kari Seitz (United States)

Cameroon	0–5	Brazil
	Report	Francielle 7' Costa 10' Marta 73' (pen.), 88' Cristiane 78'

Attendance: 30,847^[9]

Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)

New Zealand	0–1	Brazil
	Report	Cristiane 86'

Attendance: 30,103^[10]

Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus (Germany)

Great Britain	3–0	Cameroon
Stoney 18' J. Scott 23' Houghton 82'	Report

Attendance: 31,141^[11]

Referee: Hong Eun-ah (South Korea)

New Zealand	3–1	Cameroon
Smith 43' Sonkeng 49' (o.g.) Gregorius 62'	Report	Onguéné 75'

Attendance: 11,425^[12]

Referee: Christina Pedersen (Norway)

Great Britain	1–0	Brazil
Houghton 2'	Report

Attendance: 70,584^[13]

Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (Canada)

Group F[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sweden	3	1	2	0	6	3	+3	5	Qualified for the quarter-finals
2	Japan	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Canada	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2	4
4	South Africa	3	0	1	2	1	7	−6	1

Japan	2–1	Canada
Kawasumi 33' Miyama 44'	Report	Tancredi 55'

Attendance: 14,119^[14]

Referee: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)

Sweden	4–1	South Africa
Fischer 7' Dahlkvist 20' Schelin 21', 63'	Report Report	Modise 60'

Attendance: 18,290^[15]

Referee: Salomé di Iorio (Argentina)

Japan	0–0	Sweden
	Report Report

Attendance: 14,160^[16]

Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (Mexico)

Canada	3–0	South Africa
Tancredi 7' Sinclair 58', 86'	Report

Attendance: 14,753^[17]

Referee: Christina Pedersen (Norway)

Japan	0–0	South Africa
	Report

Attendance: 24,202^[18]

Referee: Efthalia Mitsi (Greece)

Canada	2–2	Sweden
Tancredi 43', 84'	Report Report	Hammarström 14' Jakobsson 16'

Attendance: 12,719^[19]

Referee: Hong Eun-ah (South Korea)

Group G[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9	Qualified for the quarter-finals
2	France	3	2	0	1	8	4	+4	6
3	North Korea	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
4	Colombia	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6	0

United States	4–2	France
Wambach 19' Morgan 32', 66' Lloyd 56'	Report	Thiney 12' Delie 14'

Attendance: 18,090^[20]

Referee: Sachiko Yamagishi (Japan)

Colombia	0–2	North Korea
	Report	Kim Song-hui 39', 85'

Attendance: 18,900^[21]

Referee: Carol Anne Chenard (Canada)

United States	3–0	Colombia
Rapinoe 33' Wambach 74' Lloyd 77'	Report

Attendance: 11,313^[22]

Referee: Efthalia Mitsi (Greece)

France	5–0	North Korea
Georges 45' Thomis 70' Delie 71' Renard 81' Catala 87'	Report

Attendance: 11,743^[23]

Referee: Thérèse Neguel (Cameroon)

United States	1–0	North Korea
Wambach 25'	Report

Attendance: 29,522^[24]

Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)

France	1–0	Colombia
Thomis 5'	Report

Attendance: 13,184^[25]

Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (Mexico)

† Game delayed by one hour, having been originally scheduled at 19:45,^[26] due to North Korean protest after accidental use of South Korean flag for North Korea.^[27]

Ranking of third-placed teams[edit]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Canada	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2	4
New Zealand	3	1	0	2	3	3	0	3
North Korea	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3

Knockout stage[edit]

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Gold medal match

E1

Great Britain

0

F3

Canada

2

F3

Canada

3

G1

United States (aet)

4

G1

United States

2

E3

New Zealand

0

G1

United States

2

F2

Japan

1

F1

Sweden

1

G2

France

2

G2

France

1

Bronze medal match

F2

Japan

2

E2

Brazil

0

F3

Canada

1

F2

Japan

2

G2

France

0

Quarter-finals[edit]

Sweden	1–2	France
Fischer 18'	Report Report	Georges 29' Renard 39'

Attendance: 12,869^[28]

Referee: Kari Seitz (United States)

United States	2–0	New Zealand
Wambach 27' Leroux 87'	Report

Attendance: 10,441^[29]

Referee: Salomé di Iorio (Argentina)

Brazil	0–2	Japan
	Report	Ōgimi 27' Ohno 73'

Attendance: 28,528^[30]

Referee: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)

Great Britain	0–2	Canada
	Report	Filigno 12' Sinclair 26'

Attendance: 28,828^[31]

Referee: Sachiko Yamagishi (Japan)

Semi-finals[edit]

France	1–2	Japan
Le Sommer 76'	Report	Ōgimi 32' Sakaguchi 49'

Attendance: 61,482^[32]

Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (Mexico)

Canada	3–4 (a.e.t.)	United States
Sinclair 22', 67', 73'	Report	Rapinoe 54', 70' Wambach 80' (pen.) Morgan 120+3'

Attendance: 26,630^[33]

Referee: Christina Pedersen (Norway)

Bronze medal match[edit]

Canada	1–0	France
Matheson 90+2'	Report

Attendance: 12,465^[34]

Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)

Gold medal match[edit]

United States	2–1	Japan
Lloyd 8', 54'	Report	Ōgimi 63'

Attendance: 80,203^[35]

Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus (Germany)

Statistics[edit]

Goalscorers[edit]

There were 71 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.73 goals per match.

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

Carli Lloyd

3 goals

Yūki Ōgimi

Alex Morgan

Megan Rapinoe

2 goals

Marta

Marie-Laure Delie

Laura Georges

Wendie Renard

Élodie Thomis

Kim Song-hui

Nilla Fischer

Lotta Schelin

1 goal

Renata Costa

Gabrielle Onguéné

Jonelle Filigno

Diana Matheson

Camille Catala

Eugénie Le Sommer

Gaëtane Thiney

Jill Scott

Casey Stoney

Nahomi Kawasumi

Aya Miyama

Shinobu Ohno

Mizuho Sakaguchi

Sarah Gregorius

Rebecca Smith

Portia Modise

Lisa Dahlkvist

Marie Hammarström

Sofia Jakobsson

Sydney Leroux

1 own goal

Source: FIFA^[36]

Assists[edit]

5 assists

4 assists

3 assists

Élodie Thomis

Megan Rapinoe

2 assists

Rhian Wilkinson

Karen Carney

Kim Little

Shinobu Ohno

Marie Hammarström

Tobin Heath

1 assist

Francielle

Adrienne Iven

Diana Matheson

Lauren Sesselmann

Christine Sinclair

Sonia Bompastor

Aya Miyama

Aya Sameshima

Homare Sawa

Ria Percival

Rosie White

Sofia Jakobsson

Lina Nilsson

Caroline Seger

Sara Thunebro

Kelley O'Hara

Heather O'Reilly

Christie Rampone

Hope Solo

Source: FIFA^[36]

Discipline[edit]

Red cards

• Choe Mi-gyong

Match bans

• Lady Andrade was banned two matches for violent conduct in punching Abby Wambach.^[37]

FIFA Fair Play Award[edit]

The United States won the FIFA Fair Play Award, given to the team with the best record of fair play during the tournament. Every match in the final competition is taken into account but only teams that reach the second stage of the competition are eligible for the Fair Play Award.^[36]

Pos	Team	Pts
1	United States	945
2	Sweden	890
3	France	875
4	Japan	874
5	Canada	863
6	New Zealand	844
7	Great Britain	798
8	Brazil	698

Tournament ranking[edit]

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	G	United States	6	6	0	0	16	6	+10	18	Gold medal
2	F	Japan	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Silver medal
3	F	Canada	6	3	1	2	12	8	+4	10	Bronze medal
4	G	France	6	3	0	3	11	8	+3	9	Fourth place
5	E	Great Britain (H)	4	3	0	1	5	2	+3	9	Eliminated in quarter-finals
6	E	Brazil	4	2	0	2	6	3	+3	6
7	F	Sweden	4	1	2	1	7	5	+2	5
8	E	New Zealand	4	1	0	3	3	5	−2	3
9	G	North Korea	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3	Eliminated in group stage
10	F	South Africa	3	0	1	2	1	7	−6	1
11	G	Colombia	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6	0
12	E	Cameroon	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

Notable events and controversies[edit]

North Korea flag confusion[edit]

In the first day of the Olympic events on 25 July, the match between DPR Korea and Colombia was delayed by a little over an hour because the flag of South Korea was mistakenly displayed on the electronic scoreboard in Hampden Park. The North Korean team walked off the pitch in protest at seeing the South Korean flag displayed by their names and refused to warm-up whilst the flag was being displayed. They also objected to the South Korean flag being displayed above the stadium, even though the flags of all the competing countries were being displayed. The game then commenced after a delay and rectification of the error.^[38]

Andy Mitchell, venue media manager for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), read out a LOCOG statement shortly afterwards:^[39][40]

"Today ahead of the Women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the North Korean flag. Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again".

LOCOG's statement had to be reissued because it failed to use the nations' official titles, "Republic of Korea" and "Democratic People's Republic of Korea".^[41]

British Prime Minister David Cameron added that it was an "honest mistake" and efforts would be undertaken to ensure such a mishap does not recur. However, North Korean manager Sin Ui-gun expressed reservations about whether the incident was a mistake of intention and said: "We were angry because our players were introduced as if they were from South Korea, which may affect us greatly as you may know. Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved perfectly and fortunately some time later, the broadcasting was corrected and shown again live so we made up our mind to participate and go on with the match. If this matter cannot be solved, we thought going on was nonsense. Winning the game cannot compensate for that thing".^[42]

Canada–United States semi-final[edit]

During the semi-final match between Canada and the United States, a time-wasting call was made against the Canadian goalkeeper, Erin McLeod, when she held the ball longer than the allowed six seconds. As a result, the American side was awarded an indirect free-kick in the box. On the ensuing play, Canada was penalized for a handball in the penalty box, with the American team being awarded a penalty kick, which Abby Wambach converted to tie the game at 3–3. The Americans went on to win the match in extra time, advancing to the gold medal game.^[43][44] After the match, Canada forward Christine Sinclair stated, "the ref decided the result before the game started." FIFA responded by stating that the refereeing decisions were correct and saying it was considering disciplinary action against Sinclair, but that any disciplinary action would be postponed until after the end of the tournament.^[45][46][47]

See also[edit]

• Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website Archived 9 December 2012 at archive.today
• FIFA official website
• RSSSF Summary
• FIFA Technical Report