Addendum. Following Igor's suggestions, I add few more details on this problem.
Let $A_1,...,A_p$ be matrices in $SL(n, {\mathbb C})$ and $\Gamma$ be the subgroup that they generate. Let $C_j$ denote the conjugacy class of $A_j$ in $SL(n, {\mathbb C})$. For simplicity, I will assume that each $C_j$ consists of diagonalizable matrices only.
Note. I realize that the original question was about real matrices. However, the necessary conditions for complex matrices are, of course, also necessary for the real matrices. I do not know if somebody worked on the sufficient conditions in the real case.
Problem (PMP, Product of Matrices Problem). Describe necessary and sufficient conditions on conjugacy classes $C_1,...,C_p$ so that there exist matrices $A_j\in C_j$ satisfying $$ A_1 \ldots A_p=1. $$
Definition. The tuple $(A_1,...,A_k)$ is {\em irreducible} if the action of $\Gamma$ on ${\mathbb C}^n$ is irreducible.
Note that (since we are considering only diagonalizable matrices), the Product of Matrices Problem (PMP) reduces to the case of irreducible tuples (otherwise, you the problem reduces to the block-diagonal case).
Problem (DSP, Deligne-Simpson Problem). Describe necessary and sufficient conditions on conjugacy classes $C_1,...,C_p$ so that there exist an irreducible tuple matrices $A_j\in C_j$ satisfying $$ A_1 \ldots A_p=1. $$
As Aaron correctly observed, the first interesting case of the PMP and DSP is when $n=3$ (see the example below). For instance, the case $n=2$ when the eigenvalues are all real, there are indeed no restrictions on the eigenvalues since for every collection of positive real numbers $\ell_1,...,\ell_p$ there exists a hyperbolic surface $\Sigma$ with geodesic boundary which is (topologically) a $p$-holed sphere, so that the lengths of the boundary components are $\ell_1,...,\ell_p$. (This is a nice geometric fact that has a computation-free geometric proof using right-angled hyperbolic hexagons, see for instance Thurston's book "3-dimensional geometry and topology.")
Notation. For a diagonalizable matrix $A$ we let $(m_1,...,m_k)$ denote the multiplicities of its eigenvalues, the number $d(A):=n^2- (m_1^2+...+m_k^2)$ is the dimension of the conjugacy class of $A$. We also let $r(A)$ denote $$ n-\max(m_1,...,m_k). $$ Since we are having $p$ conjugacy classes of matrices, we have the quantities $d_j:=d(A_j)$ and $r_j:=r(A_j)$.
Theorem (C.Simpson, [1]) The following are necessary conditions on the conjugacy classes $C_j$ in DSP:
$d_1+...+d_p \ge 2n^2-2$.
For every $j$, $$ r_1+...+ \hat{r}_j+...+r_p\ge n. $$
Here $\hat{r}$ as usual means "skip it." Note that for $n=2$ Simpson's conditions always hold (provided that all matrices are different from $\pm I$).
Simpson also proves in [1] that under some "genericity conditions'' on the eigenvalues and assuming that $r_j=1$ for at least one $j$, the above conditions are also sufficient in DSP.
Crawley-Boevey reformulated DSP using quivers and solved it completely, see Theorem 10 and the following comments in [2]. However, the conditions that Crawley-Boevey formulates are in terms of roots of Kac-Moody algebra associated with the conjugacy classes $C_j$. I suspect that in the diagonalizable case his conditions are not too bad and can be read off from the multiplicities of eigenvalues. However, to be honest, I am not the right person to do the translation, since I do not know enough about quivers. (Maybe when and if I have more time, I could invest some of it in the translation.) For now, Simpson's conditions above provide some restrictions on the eigenvalues.
Example. In [3], page 176, Crawley-Boevey gives the following translation of his conditions in the case of three 3-by-3 matrices $A_1, A_2, A_3$. Assume that $r_1=r_2=r_3=1$ (i.e., all three conjugacy classes have one eigenvalue of multiplicity 2). Let $\lambda_i$ denote eigenvalues of multiplicity 2 of $A_i$. Then the solution of the PMP is: $$ \prod_i \lambda_i=1 $$ (i.e., this is necessary and sufficient condition).
References.
[1] C. Simpson, Products of matrices, In “Differential Geometry, Global Analysis and Topology”, Canadian Math. Soc. Conference Proceedings 12, AMS, (1991), 157 – 185.
[2] W. Crawley-Boevey, Quiver algebras, weighted projective lines, and the Deligne-Simpson problem. International Congress of Mathematicians. Vol. II, 117–129, Eur. Math. Soc., Zurich, 2006.
[3] W. Crawley-Boevey,
Indecomposable parabolic bundles and the existence of matrices in prescribed conjugacy class closures with product equal to the identity. Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes Etudes Sci. No. 100 (2004), 171–207.