Host country China Venue(s) 5 (in 5 host cities) | Dates 6 August – 21 August Runners-up Brazil | |
 | ||
Teams 12 (from 6 confederations) Champions United States (3rd title) | ||
The women's association football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in China from 6 August to 21 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams.
Contents
For these Games, the women competed in a 12-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced on 6 August, two days before the Opening Ceremony of the Games. The teams were grouped into three pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. The top two teams in each pool, as well as the best two third-place finishing teams, advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket.
The tournament was won by the United States, which beat Brazil 1–0 in the gold medal game. Carli Lloyd scored the game-winning goal in the 96th minute for the United States, which collected their third Olympic gold medal.
Qualifying
A National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team for the football competition.
Squads
The women's tournament is a full international tournament with no restrictions on age. Each nation must submit a squad of 18 players by 23 July 2008. A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) must be included in the squad.
Group stage
Group winners and runners-up, plus two best third place teams advanced to quarter final round. Groups are lettered sequentially from the last letter in the Men's Football tournament (which has Groups A through D).
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)