This article details the qualifying phase for taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The competition at these Games comprised a total of 128 taekwondo fighters coming from their respective NOCs.
Each NOC was allowed to enter up to a maximum of eight competitors, four of each gender, based on the WTF Olympic rankings, such that an athlete per NOC must be among the top six in each weight category.
[1][2] Four places had been reserved to the host nation Brazil, and another four had been invited by the Tripartite Commission.
[3] The remaining 120 places were allocated through a qualification process in which athletes had won quota place for their respective NOC.