GB men’s football team could return for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Welsh men’s footballers could form part of a Team GB side once again in 2028. British Olympic Association (BOA) chiefs are setting their sights on assembling a men’s football team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Discussions are in the offing between the BOA and the football associations across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland about bringing back a Team GB men’s side inspired by Team GB’s accomplishments at the Paris Olympics. It would be the first time Team GB fielded a men’s football squad since current Wales manager Craig Bellamy was in the team in 2012.
Despite the Team GB women’s squad qualifying previously for the Olympics they did not secure a spot in Paris 2024. Andy Anson, BOA chief executive, said: “I think it would be brilliant for football, for youth football, and for football in general. I think for the women’s team to compete is brilliant and I’d love to see the men’s team compete in the same way.”
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Great Britain’s footballers clinched gold in men’s football in the 1900, 1908, and 1912 Games and took part in every Olympic event from 1948 to 1972. Get the latest Wales football news with our dedicated newsletter Don’t Take Me Home.
Previous considerations to revive a GB men’s team encountered opposition, particularly from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland’s FAs, over concerns that their independent status within Fifa and Uefa could be affected by competing as a unified team at the Olympics. Nonetheless the London 2012 Olympics saw a GB men’s team, composed of a majority of English players alongside five Welsh, take part in what was deemed a one-time event.
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
With Craig Bellamy in the squad and Stuart Pearce at the helm the team’s journey ended in the quarter-finals with a penalty shootout loss to South Korea. Despite fielding a women’s team at both the London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics Team GB were absent from Paris.
This was due to England, as the highest-ranked nation responsible for Team GB’s qualification, failing to progress in the latter stages of the Nations League. The BOA could face opposition from home sssociations and clubs over player release for Olympic football given the increasingly packed football calendar.
The LA Olympics are scheduled for July 14-30, 2028, kicking off just days after the Euro 2028 final at Wembley and a few weeks before the start of the new domestic season. Spain clinched Olympic gold in Paris, adding to their European Championship title, by defeating France 5-3 in the final after extra time.
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