The Olympic Games are drawing closer after being postponed for a year due to coronavirus - with the football draws taking place this week.
Of course, this is all under the assumption that the Tokyo Games will even happen.
Japanese officials last Thursday said that there is still a possibility that COVID-19 could lead to the cancellation of the international competition.
Advert
Read more: Group stage draw in full
Until then, however, the countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games remains - with the 16 men's and 12 women's teams set to learn the identity of their opponents this week.
- UEFA to ban clubs and players from competing in international competitions
- Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid to be removed from Champions League semi-finals
Tokyo Stadium will be the stage for the first match of the Japanese men's team, while the women's finalists will fight for the gold medal at the city's iconic new Olympic Stadium, which will also be the setting for the Games' opening and closing ceremonies.
Advert
Here, SPORTbible takes a look at what you need to know ahead of the draw, how to watch it and more...
When is it?
The draw will take place on April 21 at 9am (BST) at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
How can I watch?
It will be streamed live on the FIFA YouTube channel for free and will be conducted by Sarai Bareman, FIFA chief women's football officer and Jaime Yarza, FIFA director of tournaments.
How will it work?
The seeding for the Tokyo Games football event was announced last Friday, with the 28 teams that qualified on the men and women's side set to find out on Wednesday who their upcoming opponents will be.
Advert
The teams are divided with 16 sides in the men's competition and 12 in the women's.
For the men, the allocation is based on a ranking system based on how teams have performed in the past five Olympic competitions in Rio de Janeiro, London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney.
The women, meanwhile, have their pots determined from the FIFA Women's World Ranking that was released on Friday.
Something that remains the same is that Japan's national team will take the lead spot in both groups.
Which teams are involved?
The 16 sides will be drawn into four groups of four (Groups A to D), and the pot allocation for the Men's Olympic Football Tournament is as follows:
The women's sides will also be split into four pots, but their allocation to the pots will be based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking released on 16 April 2021.
Advert
The 12 sides will be drawn into three groups of four (Groups E to G), and the pot allocation for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament is as follows:
The general principle for each tournament's draw is to ensure that no group has more than one team from the same confederation.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football
