The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will feature an increase in women's soccer teams from 12 to 16, while the men's competition will be downsized from 16 to a dozen teams, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
The decision was part of a number of changes to the Olympic program, with more mixed events across several sports and all team sports with at least the same number of women’s and men’s teams.
The IOC said the reason for the sharp increase in women's soccer teams was the rapidly growing popularity of women's team sports, especially in the United States, and that the change in the competition format reflected that rapid growth.
"We wanted to do something to reflect that growth and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women's football," IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell told a news conference.
He said the IOC had discussed the issue with both LA Games organizers and world soccer's governing body FIFA before going through with the changes.
The total number of players — men's and women's — would not change.
The United States, which will also host the 2026 men's World Cup and the women's edition in 2031, has won five Olympic gold medals in the women's competition.
The men's teams use mostly under-23 players at Olympic Games.
The LA Games will have a total of 351 medal events in all sports, 22 more than at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Several sports, including archery, athletics, golf and gymnastics will be adding new mixed team events, with the total number of athletes unchanged at 10,500.
The five sports proposed by the LA Games organizing committee — baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash — will have an extra 698 quota places.
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