The marque event in Rio Olympics 2016 will be the football competition taking place from 03 August to 20th August 16 teams divided into four groups will take part. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages leading to semifinal and the final (gold medal match). Each team will have 16-men squads where max three players can be over 23 years of age, Rest should be 23 or under. Total of 32 matches will be played where teams reaching the final will contest for gold medal and there will be a third place playoff of losing semifinalists for a Bronze medal.
We take a look at the qualified teams and the entire match schedule of Olympic Men’s Football 2016. 8 different venues will host matches across Brazil while the final will be taking place in São Paulo on 20th August 2016.
Qualified Teams: Host nation Brazil got automatic place while other 15 teams qualified through various means. Below is the list of teams in the Olympic Men’s football and how they qualified.
| NO.1 | TEAMS | HOW DID THEY QUALIFY |
| 1 |  Brazil |
Direct qualification as hosts |
| 2 |  Argentina |
Winners of Latin America Youth Championship 2015 |
| 3 |  Sweden |
Winners of under-21 European champions |
| 4 |  Portugal |
Under-21 European championship (losing finalists) |
| 5 |  Germany |
Under-21 European championship (Losing semifinalists) |
| 6 |  Denmark |
Under-21 European championship (Losing semifinalists) |
| 7 |  Fiji |
Gold medal at Pacific Games 2015 |
| 8 |  Mexico |
CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Winners |
| 9 |  Honduras |
CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Runnersup |
| 10 |  Nigeria |
African under-21 Nations Cup (winners) |
| 11 |  Algeria |
African under-21 Nations Cup (Runners-up) |
| 12 |  South Africa |
African under-21 Nations Cup (Third place) |
| 13 |  Japan |
Asian under-23 Champions |
| 14 |  South Korea |
Asian under-23 Runners-up |
| 15 |  Iraq |
Asian under-23 third place |
| 16 |  Colombia |
Qualifying Playoff winners |
Olympics 2016 Men’s Football Match Schedule: The group stage will start on 03 August 2016 and 16 teams divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each will play three group games each where top two will qualify for the quarterfinals. Below is the entire schedule of the Olympic football competition.
| NO# | MATCH | TIME (local) | VENUE |
| 04 August | Iraq vs Denmark (Group A) | 13:00 | Brasília |
| 04 August | Brazil vs South Africa (Group A) | 16:00 | Brasília |
| 04 August | Sweden vs Colombia (Group B) | 18:00 | Manaus |
| 04 August | Nigeria vs Japan (Group B) | 21:00 | Manaus |
| 04 August | Fiji vs South Korea (Group C) | 20:00 | Salvador |
| 04 August | Germany vs Mexico (Group C) | 17:00 | Salvador |
| 04 August | Algeria vs Honduras (Group D) | 15:00 | Rio de Janeiro |
| 04 August | Portugal vs Argentina (Group D) | 18:00 | Rio de Janeiro |
| 07 August | Denmark vs South Africa (Group A) | Brasília | |
| 07 August | Brazil vs Iraq (Group A) | Brasília | |
| 07 August | Sweden vs Nigeria (Group B) | Manaus | |
| 07 August | Japan vs Clolmbia (Group B) | Manaus | |
| 07 August | Fiji vs Mexico (Group C) | Salvador | |
| 07 August | Germany vs South Korea (Group C) | Salvador | |
| 07 August | Honduras vs Portugal (Group D) | Rio de Janeiro | |
| 07 August | Argentina vs Algeria (Group D) | Rio de Janeiro | |
| 10 August | Brazil vs Denmark (Group A) | Salvador | |
| 10 August | South Africa vs Iraq (Group A) | São Paulo | |
| 10 August | Japan vs Sweden (Group B) | Salvador | |
| 10 August | Colombia vs Nigeria (Group B) | São Paulo | |
| 10 August | Germany vs Fiji (Group C) | Belo Horizonte | |
| 10 August | Mexico vs South Korea (Group C) | Brasília | |
| 10 August | Argentina vs Honduras (Group D) | Belo Horizonte | |
| 10 August | Portugal vs Algeria (Group D) | Brasília | |
| 13 August | 1st Quarterfinal | São Paulo | |
| 13 August | 2nd Quarterfinal | Belo Horizonte | |
| 13 August | 3rd Quarterfinal | Salvador | |
| 13 August | 4th Quarterfinal | Brasília | |
| 17 August | 1st Semifinal | Rio de Janeiro | |
| 17 August | 2nd Semifinal | São Paulo | |
| 20 August | Bronze Medal Match | Rio de Janeiro | |
| 20 August | Gold Medal Match (Final) | Belo Horizonte | |
