Melbourne: Australia will travel to London with its smallest Olympic contingent since 1992 after the failure of several teams to qualify for the July-August games.

The Australian Olympic football team lost 1-0 to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, joining the women's football team and women's volleyballers in missing out on an Olympic berth.

The football teams would have taken 18 players each, while the volleyball team reduced the projected contingent by another 12.

The Australian Olympic Committee had estimated it would send 420 competitors to London, but that may now be around 370 at best. Australia sent 279 athletes to the 1992 Barcelona Games, coming home with seven gold medals, while 417 went to Atlanta in 1996.