Football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics kicks off before the Opening Ceremony even happens — and it runs all the way through to a men's gold medal match on July 28 and a women's final on July 29. Here's everything you need to know about when the games are played.
Group Stage: Football Starts Early
The men's tournament opens on Monday, July 10 — four days before the official Opening Ceremony on July 14. Women's group play follows the next day, July 11. Both tournaments then continue through the pre-ceremony days, with more men's group matches on July 13 and women's on July 14.
Exact kick-off times for all group stage matches are still listed as TBA, so fixture-by-fixture scheduling will need to be confirmed closer to the tournament. That's standard for multi-venue Olympic football, where stadium allocations across Los Angeles, and potentially other host cities, take time to finalise.
The group stage continues well into the main Games. Men's group play resumes on July 16, women's on July 17 — both again with times to be announced.
Knockouts, Semifinals and Medal Matches
The men's quarterfinals are split across July 20 and July 21. From there, the men's semifinals take place on July 24, with both matches scheduled — one at 4 p.m. Eastern, the other at 11:30 p.m. That late kickoff will be one to watch for European audiences catching it live.
The women's semifinals follow on July 25, at 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Eastern.
Then the medal matches:
- Men's bronze-medal match: Thursday, July 27 at 9 p.m. Eastern
- Women's bronze-medal match: Friday, July 28 at 4 p.m. Eastern
- Men's gold-medal match: Friday, July 28 at 9 p.m. Eastern
- Women's gold-medal match: Saturday, July 29 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern
The men's final on the evening of July 28 is a marquee slot — prime time on the East Coast, late night in Europe, and smack in the middle of the Games' final weekend. Whoever reaches that match will be playing in front of one of the biggest global audiences the tournament can offer.
Women's football gets its own showcase the following afternoon. A 3:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff on July 29 keeps it in daylight hours and squarely in the weekend's main event programming.
What to Watch For
Olympic men's football operates under the U23 age restriction with three overage players permitted per squad — which historically makes it a tournament where emerging nations can genuinely compete. The women's tournament has no age restriction, meaning the best players in the world are eligible and usually show up. Both formats produce genuinely unpredictable results, and the group stage outcomes will reshape the knockout picture significantly.
All times are Eastern. The full schedule remains subject to change.
