Daily Times

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Japan will avoid being drawn in the same group in this year’s Olympic Games football tournament, the sport’s world governing body FIFA said on Friday. The nations were named in Pot 1 for the 16-team competition, meaning they cannot face each other during the competition’s opening round-robin phase. The pots were allocated based on rankings that considered performances at the past five Olympic tournaments, FIFA said. The draw will be held at Rio’s Maracana stadium on April 14. The Olympic football men’s tournament will be played in six Brazilian cities from August 3 to 20.

Men’s competition:

Pot 1: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan

Pot 2: Nigeria, South Korea, Honduras, Iraq

Pot 3: Sweden, Fiji, Portugal, South Africa

Pot 4: Algeria, Colombia, Denmark, Germany

Women’s competition:

Pot 1: Brazil, USA, Germany

Pot 2: France, Australia, Sweden

Pot 3: Canada, China, New Zealand

Pot 4: Colombia, South Africa, Zimbabwe.