Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in London and 5 other cities in the United Kingdom. This was the first FIFA women's competition in the United Kingdom.
Qualification.
Twelve teams qualified:
Group stage.
Group F.
In Group F play before the official opening ceremonies, the Japanese team won the first match against Canada at Coventry on July 25 The Japan-South Africa game was a draw with no goals for each team. The Japan-Sweden game was also a draw with no score.
Group G.
In Group G play, the American women won each of three matches.
Knockout stage.
The tournament had a single-elimination format. When a team lost a match, the competition was ended for them. In other words, when a team won, the women continued to play until only one team remained as the Olympic champion. 
In the first match at St James Park in Newcastle between New Zealand and the United States, the 2-0 victory of the US women ended New Zealand's participation in the 2012 games. In the semi-final match at Old Trafford in Manchester, the US women won a 4-3 victory over Canada in the last minute of extra time in overtime.
In the opening match at Cardiff between Brazil and Japan, the Brazilians were forced out of the tournament after losing to Japan 2-0.
In the match at Wembley Stadium in London between France and Japan, the Japanese team won 2-1.
Gold medal match.
The United States women's national soccer team and the Japan women's national football team met in the gold medal match. This was a rematch of teams which played for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The match was played at the Wembley Stadium in London on August 9, 2012. The American team won the match 2-1.