Unlike in men’s football, the Olympic Games have a high status in women’s football. They are seen as a second World Cup, or at least as an opportunity to make amends for the World Cup. Some want to make amends: In addition to Germany, the USA (out in the round of 16), Brazil (out in the group stage) and France (out in the quarter-finals) were not particularly happy with their performance in Australia and New Zealand.
At the Olympic Games, all of these teams can show that they have improved since the summer of 2023. However, there is little international confidence that Germany will be able to do so: International media do not consider the DFB women to be particularly strong before the start of the tournament – they are not necessarily a medal candidate, according to the consensus.
It has rarely happened in the last 20 years that Germany is only ranked in the lower half of the field of participants before a tournament. At the Olympic Games, the international media GOAL But the DFB women are there: In the power ranking, Horst Hrubesch’s team is only in 8th place out of 12.
“The team is in a strange phase,” writes GOALand judges: “The 4-4-2 system he has opted for in recent years has its weaknesses and the team does not always show its full potential, as the shocking 3-0 defeat to Iceland showed. But above all, Lena Oberdorf will miss the games after suffering a serious knee injury in the last game before the tournament. That is a heavy blow.” Form the podium if it is after GOAL Spain, the USA and France.
Sometimes mere ignorance is worse than the harshest criticism: The English Guardian does not mention the DFB women in its list of favourites. The newspaper sees the world champions from Spain at the top, followed by France and the USA. According to the Guardian Japan, Canada and Australia. Colombia, Zambia and Nigeria are also expected to beat the favorites – but not the DFB women.
The American medium USA Today sees, based on betting odds, the USA at the top of the Olympics, ahead of Spain – that’s probably a bold prediction. Germany will end up in fourth place, just behind the medal ranks. “Germany should be a difficult challenge for the USWNT,” writes the website.
The American broadcaster CBS Sports estimates the USA’s chances to be significantly worse: The Americans do not even make it into the top 5 in their ranking. Instead, CBS Sport Spain and behind them – somewhat surprisingly – Canada are the favorites.
Germany is in fifth place, ahead of the USA and Brazil. “Even without the injured Lena Oberdorf, Germany will not have an easy task,” writes CBS Sports: “With Jule Brand they have another future star in their midfield ranks.
And the 90min-Forecast: Germany is not in the top places here either – the competition is too strong, there has been too little consistency in recent months. Despite the difficult group, reaching the quarter-finals could be possible, the semi-finals would be a small surprise – and anything beyond that is a bonus.
