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Rugby sevens pools confirmed for Dakar Summer Youth Olympic Games
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After making its debut at the 2014 iteration in Nanjing, rugby sevens is set to return to the Youth Olympic Games format, as 16 teams and 15 nations have been confirmed to feature at the 2026 Dakar event in November this year.
Around 2700 young athletes are expected to compete across 25 competition sports, with over 120 nations set to be represented, marking the first time ever an Olympic Games of any kind has ever been played on the African continent.
Dakar will mark the third time sevens has been played in the youth iteration, following it’s last event in Buenos Aires in 2018, with the event set to feature some of the world’s most promising young players of the next generation.
Eight men’s and women’s teams will take part, with each competition featuring two pools of four teams, with several new teams making their first appearances
In the men’s tournament, Argentina will look to defend their gold medal from 2018, while the women’s competition is set for new medalists, with 2018 gold medalists New Zealand, as well as silver medalists France and bronze medalists Canada not featuring.
Hosts Senegal are set to be the only nation to feature men’s and women’s sides, with all continents set to feature at least one team in each respective format.
With the opening ceremony set for the end of October, the rugby tournament will kick off at the 8,000-seat Complexe Iba Mar Diop the following day, with medals awarded on 2 and 3 November.
France finished with silver in both the men’s and women’s events in 2018, with the men set to feature again in 2026, facing stiff competition in Pool B with Argentina and 2018 bronze medalists Japan all in the same pool.
They will be joined by Samoa, while Canada, Germany, Senegal and wildcards South Africa will make up Pool A.
The women’s competition will see eight new sides, with Senegal joined in Pool A by Australia, China and Kenya, while Czechia, Madagascar, Spain and the USA make up Pool B.
The Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympics will run for two weeks, with 153 events total, concluding on November 13th at Diamniadio Olympic Stadium.
Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics Sevens Pools:
Men’s tournament:
Pool A: Canada, Germany, Senegal, South Africa
Pool B: Argentina, France, Japan, Samoa
Women’s tournament:
Pool A: Australia, China, Kenya, Senegal
Pool B: Czechia, Madagascar, Spain, USA
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