Olympic soccer games: All the action from men's & women's football tournaments in Japan

Simon Borg

Olympic soccer games: All the action from men's & women's football tournaments in Japan image

The men's and women's soccer tournaments came to a close with Canada (women) and Brazil (men) earning gold medals. It was Brazil's second straight gold on the men's side, while for Canada's women's program it was the first-ever gold and first major tournament victory. 

In the women's tournament, Canada shocked Sweden in a penalty-kick shootout to win the gold medal, while the USA finished strong and claimed the bronze against Australia in a wild 4-3 game.

The men's gold-medal match was close to needing a penalty-kick shootout, but Brazil scored a winner deep into extra time to beat Spain 2-1. Mexico handled host Japan, 3-1 to claim the bronze.

Men's Olympic Soccer Tournament

Malcom scored the extra-time game-winner on a counterattack as Brazil beat Spain for the gold. It was the Brazilians who opened the scoring just before halftime through Matheus Cunha, but a fantastic second-half strike from Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal tied the score and the game went to extra time.

Mexico played a sensational match against Japan to claim bronze and gain revenge for a 2-1 loss to Japan in the group stage.

MORE: Men's top scorers  |  Group standings

Friday, August 6 (Bronze)

Match  
Mexico 3, Japan 1 Highlights

Saturday, August 7 (Gold / Silver)

Match  
Brazil 2, Spain 1 (a.e.t.) Highlights

Women's Olympic Soccer Tournament

After knocking off pre-tournament favorites USA in the semis, No. 8-ranked Canada finished the job and took home the gold medal against favorite and No. 5-ranked Sweden in a penalty-kick shootout after a 1-1 draw. It was the first gold medal for Canada and its first title in any major women's soccer tournament. It was silver once again for Sweden, which finished as runner-up to Germany in 2016.

The USA won its first women's soccer bronze medal by beating Australia 4-3 behind two goals each from Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, who may have played the final Olympic match of their career.

MORE: Women's soccer schedule   |  Final standings

Thursday, Aug. 5 (Bronze)

Match  
USA 4, Australia 3 Highlights

Friday, Aug. 6 (Gold / Silver)

Match  
Canada 1, Sweden 1 (3-2 on PKs) Highlights

How to watch Olympic soccer in USA & Canada

  • TV channels (USA): NBCSN, USA Network, Olympic Channel
  • Spanish-language TV (USA): Telemundo, Universo
  • Streams (USA): fuboTV, NBCOlympics.com, NBC Sports app, Telemundo Deportes app, TelemundoDeportes.com
  • TV channels (Canada):  CBC, TSN, Sportsnet
  • Spanish-language TV (Canada):  Telelatino (TLN)
  • Streams (Canada):  CBC Gem, CBC.ca, CBC Olympics app

USA: TV coverage of select matches from both the men's and women's soccer tournaments was carried by five channels from the NBC family of networks, in English and Spanish. Every soccer match from both events was streamed on NBCOlympics.com (English), TelemundoDeportes.com (Spanish), the NBC Sports app and Telemundo Deportes app with user authentication (verification of cable/satellite subscription).

The NBC and Telemundo families of TV networks were also available on fuboTV (free 7-day trial) : NBC, NBCSN, USA Network, CNBC, Olympic Channel, Golf Channel, Telemundo and Universo.

Canada: Coverage of the Olympics in Canada was offered by CBC and its partners TSN and Sportsnet via a multitude of platforms. Olympic events were streamed for free via the CBC Gem streaming service, CBC’s dedicated Tokyo 2020 website , and the CBC Olympics app. Specifically for soccer, Telelatino (TLN) carried men’s and women’s football coverage and daily recaps.

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.