FIFA extended the age limit for the men’s soccer tournament at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, ensuring that players who would have been able to compete in the Games this summer retain their eligibility in 2021.
There is no age limit for the women’s tournament.
FIFA also confirmed that no international games for men or women will be played in June. A pair of women’s World Cup tournaments — the under-20 World Cup set for Central America in August and September, and the under-17 World Cup scheduled to be played in India in November — were postponed.
The 2020 European Championship, second only to the World Cup in international soccer prestige, already had been postponed for one year. According to the Associated Press, UEFA had hoped to have playoff games in June to determine the final four places in a 24-team field.
FIFA recommends postponing all international matches scheduled to be played in June fixture window, which, assuming Concacaf goes along with it, will lead to the postponement of Nations League's final four for USA, MEX, CRC and HON at Texas venues. #usmnt #eltri
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 3, 2020
For the Tokyo Games, 14 of 16 nations already have secured their spots: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Japan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa and South Korea will compete. The final two spots in the field will be filled by nations in Concacaf, which is the only federation that has not completed its Olympic qualifying tournament.
Should the United States qualify a men’s team for the first time since 2008, its biggest star will be eligible to play. Christian Pulisic — as is the case with another surefire Olympic draw, France’s Kylian Mbappé — was born in 1998 and would have been under the age limit anyway, though it is still up to both players’ private clubs to release them for the Games.
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