For 28 years, or eight cycles, women's football has had a place at the Summer Olympics . Yet from the inaugural event at the 1996 Atlanta Games and through all seven editions, the World Cup holders from the previous year have yet to complete the double and collect a gold medal. Even the great Germany team -- who were the first to win back-to-back World Cups in 2003 and 2007 -- could only claim bronze in 2004 and 2008.
While the great United States teams crowned world champions in 2015 and 2019 fared far worse, as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. Italy's men won gold in 1936, in between their first two World Cup wins, but why has a women's team never managed to claim that elusive Olympic gold the following year? Editor's Picks Time for regeneration as USWNT ends Matildas' Olympic hopes 3d Marissa Lordanic USWNT Olympic talking points: Best players, Hayes' impact, quarterfinal preview 4d Sam Borden and Jeff Kassouf 2024 Olympic Games women's soccer: Bracket and fixtures schedule 20h ESPN We might get more of an answer on Saturday. This tournament has brought a new World Cup champion and Olympic debutant at the same time: Spain .
And only a semifinal against Brazil, and final against either the USWNT or Germany now stands in their way. Ahead of Paris 2024, there was plenty of optimism that Spain could be the ones to make history, yet they also had to deal with a lot of upheaval -- they changed their coach, with Montserrat Tomé replacing th.