The association football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held from 3 to 20 August in Brazil.
In addition to the Olympic host city of Rio de Janeiro, matches were also played in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Salvador, São Paulo, and Manaus. All six cities hosted matches during the 2014 World Cup, with the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio the only Olympic venue not to have been a World Cup venue.
Associations affiliated with FIFA might send teams to participate in the tournament. Men's teams were restricted to under-23 players (born on or after 1 January 1993) with a maximum of three overage players allowed, while there were no age restrictions on women's teams. The Games made use of about 400 footballs.
The history of women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels. Women's football has faced many struggles throughout its history. Although its first golden age occurred in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s, when one match achieved over 50,000 spectators, The Football Association initiated a ban in 1921 that disallowed women's football games from the grounds used by its member clubs. The ban stayed in effect until July 1971.