The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris officially begin on Friday, but the football tournament already started on Wednesday. Sixteen countries are participating in the men's event, and twelve in the women's event. However, the Netherlands is not among them. How exactly is that possible?

For the men, only players born on or after 1 January 2001 are allowed to participate, although three dispensation players who were born earlier may be added. This means that in the case of the Dutch men's team, it was not the 'big' Oranje that had the chance to qualify, but Jong Oranje.

That qualifying event was the 2023 European Championship, which took place last summer in Romania and Georgia. The Netherlands would qualify for the Olympic Games if they reached the semi-finals.

However, that did not work out: Jong Oranje finished third in a group with Georgia, Portugal and Belgium, which meant that they did not even qualify for the quarter finals. In the end, France (as host country) and semi-finalists Israel, Spain and Ukraine became the European countries that qualified for the Olympic Games.

In the past seventy years, the Dutch men have only qualified for the Olympic Games once: in 2008. In Beijing, the Dutch team, with Kenneth Vermeer, Urby Emanuelson and Roy Makaay among others, reached the quarter finals. There, the later Olympic champion Argentina, with Messi, won 2-1 after extra time.

Women

There is no age limit for women. The Oranje Leeuwinnen have competed in the Olympic Games once so far: in 2021. Then they lost to the United States in the quarterfinals in Tokyo after penalties.

This year, the Dutch women would have qualified if they reached the final of the Nations League. However, they just missed out: the Netherlands lost to Spain in the semi-final. However, because France, which had automatically qualified for the Olympic Games as host country, also reached the final, the Netherlands got a new chance. A victory over Germany in the battle for third place in the Nations League would also have earned them an Olympic ticket. However, they lost in the Abe Lenstra Stadium: 0-2, and so no Olympic Games for the Dutch women's football team this summer.

In addition to host country France and number three in the Nations League Germany, Nations League winner Spain will also be active in women's football at the Olympic Games this summer. The women's final will take place on Saturday 10 August in the Parc des Princes. The men's final will be played a day earlier in the same stadium.

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