Organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics have announced the stadiums for the two soccer tournaments. The games are particularly important for women.
The only thing that was already certain was that the medal games for both women and men would take place at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena near Los Angeles – where the final of the 1994 men’s World Cup was played.
Now the remaining stadiums have been announced:
- New York: A new stadium with 25,000 seats for New York City FC is currently being built there.
- Columbus: The stadium of the MLS club Columbus Crew has around 20,000 seats.
- Nashville: The stadium can accommodate 30,000 people and three games in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup also took place here. Otherwise it is the venue of Nashville SC.
- St Louis: The stadium of the MLS club St. Louis City SC has 22,500 seats.
- San Jose: 18,000 fans fit into this stadium. The men of the San Jose Earthquakes and the women of Bay FC usually play here.
- San Diego: The San Diego FC men’s team and the San Diego Wave FC women’s team usually play in the stadium, which can accommodate 35,000 fans.
16 men’s and 12 women’s teams recently took part in the Olympic football tournaments. In 2028, this ratio will be reversed, meaning more women’s teams will be playing for the first time. An adjustment was not desired due to an increase in the number of active participants. Overall, by 2028 there should be more female athletes than male athletes.
The Olympics are particularly important for women
The tournament is more important for women anyway. For the Olympics, female players are obliged to report to their clubs, which is not the case for men.
The men’s teams have an age limit; only three players per team can be older than 23 years. There are no such restrictions for women; all teams compete with their best players. In 2024, the USA won gold in the final against Brazil (1-0), and in the men’s event Spain beat France (5-3 n.V.).
Emily Fox (l./USA) in a duel with Priscila (Brazil) in the final of the Olympic Games
Qualification: Most starting places are still open
The participating teams are still largely open.
- Men: Europe has three starting points in Los Angeles. The three best teams from the 2027 U21 European Championships in Serbia and Albania will play at the Olympics. Germany still has to qualify for the European Championships and is in second place in its qualifying group behind Greece. Only the host USA has already qualified for Olmypia.
- Women: UEFA will get four starting places at the Olympics, which will probably be distributed in the Women’s Nations League in 2027 – but this has not yet been confirmed. In addition to the USA, the two South American teams from Brazil and Colombia have already qualified.
In 2003, the German women won the World Cup title in the USA, with Nia Künzer scoring the “golden goal” in extra time against Sweden in Carson.
