Why aren't the DFB-men there for the Olympics?
At the Olympic Games in Paris, there are 32 sports - including soccer. However, soccer holds greater significance for women than for men. A German team is not participating in this event.
One day before the opening ceremony: In the evening, the German women's team will begin their Olympic mission in Marseille, France. In the group stage of the soccer tournament, they will first face Australia (7:00 PM/ZDF, Eurosport and in the ntv.de-Live ticker), then on Sunday against the USA, and finally on the following Wednesday against Zambia. After that, the knockout round begins.
The Olympic soccer tournament has traditionally held great significance for the German women's team. The gold medal from Rio 2016 was the reward for their last successful tournament. After the lost European Championship final in 2022 against England at Wembley Stadium, German women's football, like the men's, plunged into a sporting crisis. The World Championship 2023 in Australia and New Zealand ended in the group stage, and trainer Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was dismissed afterwards.
Hrubesch stepped in as a savior just before Paris. He led the German women to a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Games, and this time he hopes for gold. At 73 years old, he dreams of the crowning achievement of his long career as a European champion, a goalscorer, and a coach, having brought the German women's team to this point. Europe has only three spots for the Olympics, and the host country, France, received one of them. The remaining spots were awarded in the Final Four tournament of the Nations League. The German women reached the third place against France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
And the men?
But what about the men and national coach Julian Nagelsmann? Why aren't the German men's team participating in the Olympic soccer tournament? The reason is simple and straightforward: the German team did not qualify. Moreover, the men's soccer tournament has different rules. Only players born after January 1, 2001, are allowed to participate, and from the 18 nominated players, only three can be born before the cut-off date.
This has several consequences. First, the tournament becomes an U23 event. For qualification, this means that the success of the youth teams plays a decisive role. The three European tickets were therefore awarded at the U21 European Championship the previous year. The German team did not shine in Romania and Georgia and failed to advance from the group stage. Unlike Israel, Spain, and the Ukraine, who are now in Paris, they did not leave a lasting impression.
Second, men's soccer faces another problem: an overcrowded calendar. The European Championship in Germany is only just two weeks away. Rodri of Spain, who was named the best player of the tournament, played 56 games last season, and DFB captain Ilkay Gündogan played an equal number of matches. The outlook is not promising: instead of a vacation, the summer brings the FIFA-inflated Club World Cup. Some clubs, such as Real Madrid, forced their stars to make a choice: either the European Championship or the Olympics. For Kylian Mbappé and Co., the decision was clear. They spent four weeks touring Germany.
Despite the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris featuring 32 sports with soccer included, the Football-Nationalteam of Germany, specifically the DFB-Women, won't be participating in this event, as stated earlier. Conversely, the DFB-Men's team, led by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, is not participating due to not qualifying for the tournament. Instead, only players born after January 1, 2001, are allowed, resulting in the Women's team, who reached the third place in the Final Four tournament of the Nations League, being the German representative.
