In an extract from his new book Aux Armes! Sport and the French – an English perspective, Insideworldfootball columnist David Owen highlights the birth place of the march towards the all-conquering World Cup.
July 23 – On the eve of the kick-off of the Olympic football tournament, Palestine have called for the “immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris Olympics 2024”.
July 23 – Four-time Olympic women’s champions, the United States have put their disastrous World Cup campaign behind them and are ready to go again, says captain Lindsey Horan.
June 5 – Manager Thierry Henry has left Kylian Mbappé out of France’s provisional squad for the Paris Olympic Games.
April 10 – Nigeria and Zambia have completed the line-up for the Olympic women’s tournament, claiming the last two tickets with playoff wins over South Africa and Morocco respectively.
March 21 – Hosts France were handed a favourable group in both the men’s and women’s tournaments of the Olympic Games following Wednesday’s draw in Paris.
February 29 – Germany claimed Europe’s last ticket to the Olympic women’s football tournament with a 2-0 victory against the Netherlands in the third-place playoff of the Nations League. In Asia, Australia and Japan clinched their spots for Paris.
February 20 – New Zealand have booked their ticket for the Olympic Women’s Football tournament after thrashing Solomon Islands 11-1 in the Oceania qualifying final.
February 12 – Brazil will not defend their gold medal at the Olympic Games of Paris after missing out on qualification. They lost 1-0 to Argentina in a crucial qualifier.
February 7 – Men’s Olympic champions Brazil suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Paraguay in South American qualifying for the Paris Games later this year, leaving their participation in danger.
July 28 – The women’s final will for the first time conclude the Olympic football tournament in Paris in 2024, FIFA revealed on Thursday, along with further details of the competition’s match schedule.
August 9 – The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) has vowed to take action against its victorious men’s team after the players failed to wear their official tracksuits at the gold medal ceremony in a dispute over rival sponsors.
August 6 – The women’s Olympic football final between Sweden and Canada has been shifted to a different venue and different kick-off time because of heat and pitch concerns.
August 3 – A flawless penalty shoot-out was what defending champions Brazil needed in the end to reach the gold medal match of Tokyo 2020 after a grueling and goalless 120 minutes against 2012 nemesis Mexico.
August 2 – After two successive bronze medals, Canada defeated the world champions and four-time gold medallists USA 1-0 with a second-half penalty from Jesse Fleming to reach the women’s football final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.