Spain already knows the rivals they will face in their group at the Tokyo Olympics: Argentina, Egypt and Australia. LThe best two will qualify for the quarterfinals. The condition that there could not be two teams from the same confederation in the same group caused La Rojita to know from the making of the drums that Argentina or Brazil would be one of the rivals. Finally, chance matched them with the Argentines. This is how the groups have remained:
Group A: Japan, South Africa, Mexico and France.
B Group: New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras and Romania.
Group C: Egypt, Spain, Argentina and Australia.
Group D: Brazil, Germany, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia.
Spain debuts on July 22 in Sapporo against Egypt (9:30 am, Spanish time). The second match is against Australia on July 25, also in Sapporo (12:30 Spanish time). The group closes against Argentina on July 28 in Saitama (1:00 p.m. Spanish time).
If La Rojita reaches the quarters, it will have a difficult crossing because it is Group D (Brazil, Germany, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia). In case of passing as first, he would play on July 31 in Miyagi (10:00, Spanish time). If it is second, it would touch him that same day but two hours later (12:00, Spanish time) and in Saitama.
Format
The championship will be played between July 22 and August 7. This time, exceptionally, it will be U-24 due to the postponement of the Games. FIFA has respected that those born after January 1, 1997, can attend, in order to respect the teams that had already qualified when it went from 2020 to 2021.
The national teams must summon 18 players and have the possibility, in addition, to bring four substitutes. These four players could only participate in the championship in the event that during the tournament there is a loss due to injury, illness or force majeure, which must be duly accredited and accepted by FIFA. Each team chooses if it has substitutes and how many, since they are not compulsory.
La Rojita will attend the tournament with the block that won the U21 European Championship in 2019. There is the possibility of taking three players over 24 years old and Luis de la Fuente, in principle, has the idea of occupying those places with three of the nine players born in 1996 who won that championship. Today Ceballos, Fabián, Mikel Merino, Fornals and Pedraza start with an advantage to occupy those places.
There are six cities that will host the championship in Japan: Kashima, Yokohama, Miyagi, Tokyo, Saitama and Sapporo. It will be played in seven stadiums, two in Tokyo and one in each of the venues. The finals will be at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on August 7.