The Great Britain & Northern Ireland team are aiming to be near the top of the medal table at this summer’s Olympics in Paris, targeting between 50 and 70 medals from their 327 athletes.
But among that number are no footballers. The women’s team, whose Olympics qualification rests on England’s performances, agonisingly failed to make the cut, while the men don’t enter at all.
Team GB’s men used to dominate Olympic football when it was strictly an amateur competition, taking gold in 1900, 1908 and 1912 – three wins remains a joint all-time record on the men’s side. But while the post-Second World War era gave rise to Eastern Europe, where top players were state-sponsored and therefore able to retain amateur status, Britain struggled to be competitive and later stopped entering altogether by 1972, having failed to qualify since 1960.
Olympics football underwent changes in the 1980s when professional players were admitted, but a compromise with FIFA was eventually reached in 1992 when it was decided that players should be under 23 years of age – three older players were allowed from 1996 onwards. Nations from Africa and Latin America have become the more dominant forces since then.
But Team GB haven’t returned, save for once as a special cameo as hosts in 2012. Much of that is to do with politics, with the four Home Nations – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – seemingly concerned about their separate FIFA memberships potentially being questioned in future. After 2012, the decision was made not to enter a men’s team again, although women would continue.
A hypothetical British team, which would have the pick of four player pools, could be among the favourites to a get a medal. Anyone born on or since 1 January 2001 can be chosen for this summer, with a maximum of three players over that age bracket permitted too.
Taking into account that England and Scotland have both already played at Euro 2024 this summer, which would rule out the likes of Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Kobbie Mainoo being selected – even though they are age eligible – here is a realistic Team GB XI for the 2024 Olympics…
* denotes over-age selection
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