The reporter reported coldly In the early morning of August 1, Beijing time, the women's football group stage of the Paris Olympics was all over, and the top three and 9 teams of the 12 participating teams except for the Australia women's football team, the remaining 8 teams all qualified. However, the real dark horse is not the Colombia women's football team, ranked 22nd in the world, but the Canada women's football team, which used a drone to secretly film the New Zealand women's football team training and was deducted 6 points.

Despite qualifying with a ceiling of just three points, defending champions Canada still won three straight games to finish second in the group. This shocking "miracle" adds a bit of irony to the women's football group stage of the Paris Olympics.

Women's World Cup winners Spain and hosts France are in the top half of the bracket, facing two South American teams from Brazil and Colombia respectively, which is relatively easy. Defending champions Canada and third-place United States are in the bottom half of the zone, while opponents are Japan and Germany, which can be called the "death half". As the only representative of the top 8 of the Asian women's football Olympics, the Japan women's football team, which stopped in the top 8 of the Tokyo Olympics and last year's Women's World Cup, still has some difficulty in fighting for medals in the "death half".

In the women's football competition of this Paris Olympic Games, the overall trend of the group stage is basically in line with the comparison of team strength, and the pattern of women's football in the world almost maintains the traditional pattern. Due to qualifying quota restrictions, United Kingdom (led by world third-ranked England women's football team), Sweden (ranked sixth in the world) and North Korea (ranked tenth in the world) failed to qualify for the Olympic finals, while the other seven teams in the top 10 of the world all reached the last eight of the Olympic women's football team.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist United States has won all three games and remains the favourite. Nine goals were scored in the group stage, each by five players, and the goals conceded against Germany and Australia were as high as 6-1, and Marolie · Swansen scored three goals to be joint third in the scorer list and expected to challenge for the Olympic Women's Golden Boot. In terms of odds to win the championship, the United States women's football team is tied for first place with the new World Cup winner Spain (6/4), the host France (11/2), followed by the recovered Germany women's football team (10/1).

The Spain women's football team, which has grown by leaps and bounds this year, will naturally advance to the round of 8 as the new Women's World Cup champion, and the United States women's football team is off a cliff ahead of other teams in terms of the probability of winning the championship. Rio 2016 Olympic champion Germany women's football team has survived a low period in recent years, after missing the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and the 2023 Women's World Cup stopped in the group stage, this time the group stage won 2 wins and 1 loss, and reached the Olympic women's football round of 8 for the fifth time in history. In the previous four Olympic women's football quarterfinals, Germany women's football team won all medals (1 gold and 3 bronze).

The host France team is ranked second in the world and has the most famous France coach in the women's football world, Heinach. The latter, a two-time winner of the men's Africa Cup of Nations, moved to women's football after being sacked by the Saudi Football Federation last year and coached France to the last eight of last year's Women's World Cup, this time aiming to win the title on home soil. At just 25 years old, Marie · Katoto, the 25-year-old veteran of the France women's football team, is the top scorer in the group stage of the Olympic Games, scoring five goals and ranking the top scorer. France's 1/4 final opponent is Brazil, whose strength has declined significantly in recent years and only won 1 in the group stage, and there is great hope of equaling the best result (Round 4) of the team history competition (Women's World Cup + Olympics). Brazil women's football legend Marta will miss the quarter-finals due to a red card in the final round, and if her teammates cannot beat the hosts, her Olympic journey will end in disappointment.

Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, the Canada women's football team won the gold medal all the way. Canada's women's football team won 14 consecutive games in all competitions before the Olympics, and it should have been no problem to qualify from the group according to their form and strength. Before the first match against the weakest New Zealand women's football team, the Canada women's football team was exposed to a shocking scandal of using drones to secretly film the opponent's training.

In the end, the Canada women's football team ended with coach Priestman and two assistant coaches being banned from football for one year and the team was deducted six points. The Canada Football Association's appeal was dismissed, and the analyst who operated the drone was arrested by the France police. The Canada women's soccer team must win all three of their group stage games without a head coach and two assistant coaches to compete for a place in the last eight with a maximum score of three points.

The Canada women's football team also proved its strength, assistant coach Spencer temporarily led the team to beat the New Zealand women's football team 2-1 in the first game, won consecutive victories against France and Colombia to get the 3-point ceiling after deducting 6 points, relying on the weak team New Zealand to lose all 3 games, France women's football team defeated Colombia, and was able to beat Colombia women's football team by virtue of goal difference and qualify as the second place in the group.

If it weren't for the points deduction due to the clandestine shooting scandal, the Canada women's football team, which should have accumulated nine points after winning all three games, would have entered the top half against the weaker Brazil, rather than the "death half" against the partially recovered Germany women's football team.

But the Canada women's football team's candid shooting scandal will continue to affect the team's performance in the knockout round. Former Canada women's soccer coach Priestman, who was banned from football for a year, was exposed in an email in March this year, not only asking analysts to secretly film opponents training, but also claiming that the world's top 10 women's national teams have similar behavior, and exposing that the Canada men's national team has long begun to secretly photograph opponents. The exposed emails led to a full investigation by FIFA and CONCACACAF into the Canada men's soccer team.

The scandal will not only continue to affect Canada's women's Olympic journey, but may even affect Canada's men's World Cup qualifiers, and may even lead FIFA to crack down on illegal access to opponents' technical and tactical information between national team matches around the world.