The men's foil event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July 2021 at the Makuhari Messe.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified fencers in the men's foil.

Foil would have been affected by this system again in 2020, but the 2020 Games eliminated this rotation and all weapons had team events.

This meant that the NOCs qualifying 3 fencers for the individual event were known as well: the United States, France, Italy, Russia, Hong Kong, Egypt, Canada, and Germany.

[2][3] The 1996 tournament had vastly simplified the competition format into a single-elimination bracket, with a bronze medal match.

The first session runs from 9 a.m. to approximately 4:20 p.m. (when the quarterfinals are expected to conclude), after which there is a break until 6 p.m. before the semifinals and medal bouts are held.