Rio De Janeiro:Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Japan will avoid being drawn in the same group in this year’s Olympic Games football tournament, the sport’s world governing body FIFA said on Friday.
The nations were named in Pot 1 for the 16-team competition, meaning they cannot face each other during the competition’s opening round-robin phase, Xinhua reported.
The pots were allocated based on rankings that considered performances at the past five Olympic tournaments, FIFA said.
The draw will be held at Rio’s Maracana stadium on April 14.
The Olympic football men’s tournament will be played in six Brazilian cities from August 3 to 20.
Men’s competition:
Pot 1: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan
Pot 2: Nigeria, South Korea, Honduras, Iraq
Pot 3: Sweden, Fiji, Portugal, South Africa
Pot 4: Algeria, Colombia, Denmark, Germany
Women’s competition:
Pot 1: Brazil, USA, Germany
Pot 2: France, Australia, Sweden
Pot 3: Canada, China, New Zealand
Pot 4: Colombia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
