News One place remains to be confirmed in the men’s football tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after Iraq beat Qatar to become the third and final Asian team to qualify, FIFA have confirmed The Iraqis came back from 1-0 down against the hosts in the third-place play-off of the Asian Under-23 Championships in Doha They join finalists Japan and the Republic of Korea, who meet on Saturday, as Asia’s representatives in Rio Become an Olympic football expert with our interactive infographicIraq trailed after Ahmed Alaa’s first-half goal but Mohanad Abdulraheem equalised with four minutes left and Aymen Hussein headed the winner in the second half of extra-time The victory sparked wild celebrations among the ‘Lions of Mesopotamia’, who have qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time since 2004 Riki Harakawa celebrates scoring Japan'swinning goal against Iraq (Photo: Getty Images/ Warren Little) Japan and the Republic of Korea had qualified earlier in the week by beating Iraq and Qatar in their respective semi-finals It is an eighth-consecutive Olympic qualification for the Republic of Korea, an Asian record “The first goal of the tournament was to get a ticket to Brazil and our team has accomplished the first goal”Shin Tae-Yong, Republic of Korea coachThe 16th and final place in the Rio 2016 men’s Olympic football tournament will be decided when Colombia and USA play off over two legs on 25 and 29 March This week also saw New Zealand confirmed as the seventh team to qualify for the women’s Olympic football tournament FIFA confirmed the Kiwis’ place after Papua New Guinea pulled out of the second leg of the pair’s qualifying tie, having lost the first leg 7-1 at home Related linksFIFA announces match schedule for Rio 2016 Olympic football tournament‘Everything is on hold until after Rio,’ says world footballer of the year Carli LloydRomário: Brazil will finally win Olympic gold in RioMexico planning to keep Brazil off top of football podium at Rio 2016Neymar aiming to help Brazil end home jinx by winning Olympic gold in RioFollow the race to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio2016 com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games) The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC) Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota |