Former France star Thierry Henry will host the men's and women's draw for Paris 2024 on Wednesday 20 March at the Paris 2024 headquarters at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. 16 men's and 12 women's teams will learn their fate in the final stage of their quest for Olympic gold. 

The event will be attended by some illustrious footballers who already know what it's like to win the ultimate prize. Argentina's Javier Saviola is one of them. He will be joined by players of the calibre of fellow Argentinian Javier Mascherano, Didier Drogba and a group of reigning world champions, the Spanish national team, who, having reached a very high level, have also achieved something unprecedented: qualification for the Olympic Games.

In men's football, four places are still up for grabs in Asia in a qualifying round to be held in Qatar between 15 April and 3 May. The top three teams will qualify for Paris 2024, with a play-off between the fourth-placed Asian team and Guinea. Argentina, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, France, New Zealand, the USA, Spain, Israel, Ukraine, Egypt, Mali and Morocco have already qualified for Paris'24.

The USA lead the way in terms of Olympic appearances with 14, followed by France (13) and Egypt (12). Barcelona '92 champions Spain have 11, while the Dominican Republic and Ukraine will be making their Olympic debuts. Last year's Tokyo 2020 champions Brazil, who also won Rio 2016, are not in the draw after surprisingly failing to qualify.

Before Brazil, Mexico won gold at London 2012, but they will not be in the draw either. The last two Olympic Games were won by Argentina in 2008 and 2004. One of them by Javier Saviola, who will be among the guests in Saint Denis on Wednesday. Argentina and Spain could be two of the teams nobody wants to face, but anything can happen in the Olympic tournament.

The women's tournament will feature 12 teams, ten of which are already known. Two teams have yet to be announced and they will come from the African qualifiers (1-9 April). France, the United States, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Australia and Japan have already confirmed their places.

Leading the way in terms of participation are the United States, who, unlike the men, have been the dominant force in women's football with seven appearances, tied with Brazil. They are followed by Japan and Germany on five and Canada, New Zealand and Australia on four. 

Of all the curiosities surrounding the women's draw, however, the most striking is undoubtedly the presence of Spain at the Olympic Games for the first time in its history. Having won the World Cup in 2023 and the Nations League recently, the Spanish team are at the highest level in their history. Despite their debut at Paris 2024, they are the team to beat.

Canada are the reigning Olympic champions. They beat the United States in the final, a historic victory that hadn't been achieved in twenty years. They could meet again in Paris in 2024.