Full coverage: 2016 Rio Olympics

The draw for the group stages of the football tournament at the 2016 Rio Olympics was held in the famous Maracana stadium in Brazil. On the women's side, 12 teams were divided into three groups, with China being placed in group E, along with host Brazil, Sweden and South Africa. 

Rio Olympics: Chinese women's team in group E with host Brazil

The twelve teams are divided into four pots with Brazil in the first pot voluntarily. The other 11 teams were decided according to the latest ranking lists from FIFA women's football. 12th ranked China, together with Canada and New Zealand were all in the third pot.  The men's teams were divided into four groups ranging from A to D, so the women's teams were divided into E, F,G.  Ronaldinho helped conduct Thursday's  draw at the Maracana Stadium.  

China will be in Group E together with host Brazil, Sweden and South Africa. Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe and Germany are in Group F while the US, New Zealand, France and Colombia are in group G. 

According to the rules, the top two teams in each pool and the two best third placed teams will advance to the knock-out stage. The women's football matches for the Rio Olympics will be held from August 3rd to the 19th in six cities and at 7 stadiums in Brazil. China's first game will take place on August 3rd and will be against Brazil. Then on August 6th, they will face South Africa and three days later, China is to take on Sweden.

As for the men, hosts Brazil were drawn alongside South Africa, Iraq and Denmark in Group A in the Men's Olympic Football Tournament as they seek their first ever gold in the event. Defending champions Mexico were put in Group C with 2012 bronze medallists South Korea, as well as Fiji and Germany. Group B features Sweden, Colombia, Nigeria and Japan, while Group D has Algeria, Portugal, Honduras and Argentina. It's still unclear if Brazil striker Neymar will be playing in the Olympics.

"We want to have all the best players in all competitions. We are speaking with the clubs - not just the one who have players who are over 23  because we must respect them all and treat them the best way possible," said Dunga, Brazil Men's head coach.

"I hope Brazil can do well. It was a good draw for them. We have the chance to make history by winning a gold medal in these Games. I will be cheering for them and hope they can perform  well during the competition," said Ronaldinho, two-time FIFA player of the year.

"It's a tough group. Three teams with a lot of good football experience. Physical teams in a different way. Nigeria and Colombia are very physically strong and Japan players are very good to run a lot and are very fast. But it's a fantastic experience for us in Sweden to meet this team. We are going to the tournament with a good tournament, after we won the European Championships. So yeah, we look forward to it," said Hakan Ericson, Sweden Men's head coach.