Highlights

• The men’s tournament at the Olympics only sees 16 teams compete — and only players under the age of 23 are allowed to participate.
• Team GB have not competed in the men’s football event since London 2012. One of the world’s biggest footballing nations has struggled to create a clear plan between the home nations.
• GIVEMESPORT has produced an in-depth article to explain why there isn’t a Team GB men’s team and how the women’s team differs.

The 2024 Olympics taking place in Paris, France are set to bring together the best of sport. The Olympics symbolise feel-good moments and sportsmanship, as athletes from around the world compete to walk away with an Olympic gold medal. Most don’t win, but they walk into history for merely competing at the Games.

They only take place every four years, meaning they carry far more significance than the World Championships in events other than football, which usually take place every one to two years. Great Britain have had their fair share of success in the Olympics. At London 2012, they finished third in the medal table with 29 gold medals; at Rio 2016, they finished second with 27 gold medals and – at the most recent event – they finished fourth with 22 gold medals. However, they won’t be fighting for gold medals in the football event at Paris 2024, just like they didn’t in Rio or Tokyo.

It can sometimes confuse people when they realise one of the biggest footballing nations in the world doesn’t take a team. Due to this, here at GIVEMESPORT, we have produced this in-depth article to go through everything you need to know about why Team GB doesn’t have a men’s football team.

Why Team GB don’t compete

Team GB did not attempt to qualify with a men’s team because they could not come to an agreement between the four home nations and there is concern that it would damage their image with FIFA and UEFA. Unlike the World Cup and Euros, the Olympics are run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The separate nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are registered together in the Olympics, thus Team GB is used. There is fear within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that it would risk their independence for future events run by FIFA and UEFA.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland prefer having independence for major football events. The idea within those countries is that if Team GB showed it could be commonly used, it would be forced upon them by FIFA and UEFA. They have had these concerns for decades, including for London 2012, but FIFA president at the time, Sepp Blatter, assured them that would not be the case.

England have often been the country trying to create a team. In 2015, FA Director of Elite Development Dan Ashworth established an FA policy that stated the Olympic tournament is a valuable experience for underage players. They tried to enter a team for Rio 2016, but they were shut down as the suggestion was by the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations. That story has epitomised the issues over the years.

London 2012 exception

Back in 2012, London hosted the Olympics for the third time ever – after 1908 and 1948. Patriotism was at an all-time high in the country as British people flocked from their homes to support their ‘heroes’. The country felt proud to be British as they finished third in the medal table, with ‘Super Saturday’ still living long in the memory at the Olympic Stadium.

During those games, the home nations came to an agreement to register a football team despite not having a team since the 1960s. Each country was provided assurances that their independence for major football events would stay if they competed at London 2012. The IOC would only accept their registration if every nation competed.

After London won the right to host the Olympics, talks immediately started regarding a football team. Early on, the Scottish Football Association refused to even attend meetings at which the Home Nations were to discuss the possibility and the Football Association of Wales withdrew from the negotiations. The Irish Football Association (representing Northern Ireland) stated in October 2007 that they would not take part in a unified team, leaving the Football Association (England) as the only association willing to take part.

However, eventually, a compromise was reached. Scotland still held reservations, whilst several Welsh players – including Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey – expressed their desire to play. In the end, the 2012 squad contained 13 English and 5 Welsh players but no Scottish or Northern Irish players. Ramsey featured but Bale did not.

Team GB’s journey in 2012

As highlighted above, during the tournament, Team GB were knocked out in the quarter-finals. They drew their opening match 1-1 with Senegal, before beating the United Arab Emirates 3-1 and Uruguay 1-0 in the group stage. However, South Korea knocked them out on penalties. It proved to be their last involvement in men’s Olympic football.

Team GB Women’s team differs

Just like the men’s team, the women’s Team GB squad was reborn for London 2012. Similarly to the men, they cruised through the group stage, beating New Zealand, Cameroon and Brazil, but they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Canada. There was hope within England that they would continue to use a team from Rio 2016 onwards, but reservations from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland put a stop to it. In 2015, they officially stopped plans to compete in Brazil.

However, their story restarted for Tokyo 2020, unlike the men’s team. An agreement was reached between the four associations ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics that the highest-ranked of the four home nations would be nominated to compete for the Olympic place. As a consequence, although both England and Scotland qualified for the 2019 World Cup, only England were eligible to compete for an Olympic qualifying place. By reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, England secured one of the three qualifying places allocated to UEFA. Just like London 2012, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals – this time by Australia.

Team GB Women’s journey in 2020

In 2021, Baroness Sue Campbell – the Football Association’s director of women’s football – addressed the importance of a women’s team when speaking at the squad announcement for the Olympics in Tokyo, via Wales Online.

“There were no teams in 2016 — and part of that is because our home countries are very concerned that they don’t want to lose their status in European or FIFA World Cups or European championships as Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or England, and that Team GB – if you can compete as Team GB in the Olympics, you know, could you compete as Team GB in the World Cup?

“We’ve worked very hard with the home countries, they’ve been incredibly supportive and they all agreed that they didn’t want to stand in the way of individual players who wanted this very, very special moment in their sporting careers. So, of course, we’re very excited and it’s actually the first time that England Women have qualified, which we did at the World Cup, to actually take a team to an Olympics, so it’s a very special event for us, and a very special occasion,” she stated.

Team GB attempted to qualify with their women’s team for Paris 2024, but they failed to do so. England – once again selected as their qualifying nation – finished second in their Nations League group, which was the determining competition to decide which countries would qualify. It meant they are without a spot in the tournament once again.

Future possibilities

It is unclear if England will have a men’s team in future Olympic Games. The women’s team has a bright future, but the men’s team has struggled to come close to an agreement since London 2012.

In truth, not all hope is lost for a Team GB football team in the future. In 2021, Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England told The Sun : “I would absolutely love to take a men’s football team to the Olympic Games. I think the experiences that the women have had through their home country FAs, hopefully, will be that positive step and impetus for an open dialogue on men’s teams in the future.”

Obviously, the strength now that we can see in women’s football (means) we’d be very disappointed if, in Los Angeles in 2028, we weren’t fielding competitive teams across all sports but in particular competitive teams in football as well.

The United Kingdom is one of the biggest footballing nations in the world, so seeing them compete at the Olympics would only boost the reputation of the competition on the world stage.