Tokyo Olympics: Women's Football Day 1: A summary of what happened and what you missed out on

A great start for Great Britain at the Olympics and a not-so-great start for hosts Japan. Sweden caused a huge upset by beating the United States of America by three goals to nil. Brazil and Netherlands scoring goals for fun and breaking records, and Australia just started off like they would have wished. The first day of women's football at the Olympics was like a good Netflix tv show, in which every match things got better, and the wait for day two is on.

Group E

In Group E, Great Britain started its campaign with a two-nil victory against Chile. A brace from Ellen White did the job for the British, and the clean sheet was like the cherry on top of the cake. She scored in the first half through an assist from L. Hemp in the 18th minute, and Bronze assisted her in making it 2-0 in the 73rd minute. Chile had no answer to them, and Brits cruised their way to three points in their first match.

In the other game, Japan drew 1-1 with Canada. The hosts trailed in the first minute through a goal from C. Sinclair and had no answer to the North Americans until late in the game. Japan got a penalty in the 54th minute, but M.Tanaka who stepped up to take the penalty shot at the goalkeeper and missed the spot-kick. Japan did equalize through Iwabuchi in the 84th minute; a goal from outside the box to the bottom right corner earned them a point.

As it stands, Great Britain are on top with 3 points, Japan and Canada on one each and Chile at last with zero points. Chile takes on Canada while Great Britain takes on Japan in the next group match on Saturday, 24th July.

Group F

Netherlands stomped Zambia in the first match of Group F. The Dutch ran 10-3 winners against Zambia and recorded the second-highest victory margin at the Women's football event at the Olympics. V. Miedema scored four, while Lieke Martens scored a brace, and goals from S. van de Sanden, Pelova, Roord, and Beerensteyn completed the rout. It was Zambia's first football match at the Olympics, and even though they lost, they had many reasons to be delighted. Barbra Banda scored a hattrick for them, where all goals acted as consolation.

Brazil also had their own party in Japan, they scored five past China PR in the first match. The goals came from Marta, Debinda, Beatriz, and Andressa Alves. Brazil and Netherlands are much clear in the group, while China and Zambia will have to play the catch-up game.

Group G

Sweden shocked the tournament favorites, the USA, by beating them crystal clear in the first match of the group. A brace from Blackstenius and a goal from Hurtig rounded off a comfortable 3-0 victory for the Swedes.

In the other match of Group G, Australia beat rivals New Zealand by a narrow margin to start their campaign with three points. Goals from Samantha Kerr and Tameka Yallop were enough to give them the three points. New Zealand scored in injury time to pull one back, but it was not enough as Australia ran out 2-1 winners.

The next match sees the table topper Sweden take on second-placed Australians, while the USA will be out to avenge the previous loss against New Zealand.

When are the next matches?

July 24 – Group E

Chile vs Canada, Japan vs Great Britain

July 24 – Group F

China PR vs Zambia, Netherlands vs Brazil

July 24 – Group G

Sweden vs Australia, New Zealand vs USA

July 27 – Group E

Chile vs Japan, Canada vs Great Britain

July 27 – Group F

Netherlands vs China PR, Brazil vs Zambia

July 27 – Group G

New Zealand vs Sweden, USA vs Australia

Knockouts begin on 30th July

Where can I watch the Olympics and the football events?

You can catch all the action LIVE in Sony Sports Network channels in India. Here are the details of broadcasters in some more countries:

Japan: The Japan Consortium

USA: NBC Universal

UK: BBC, Eurosport

China: CCTV

Australia: Seven Network

Germany: ARD-ZDF

Brazil: Grupo Globo, Bandsports

Spain: RTVE

Italy: RAI

France: Eurosport

South Africa: SABC