Football at the Summer Olympics

Football at the Summer Olympics, commonly known as football or soccer, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Women's football was added to the official program at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Football at the Summer Olympics
Governing bodyFIFA
Events2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games

Tournaments (menwomen)

History

Beginnings

Football was not included in the program at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, as international football was in its infancy at the time. However, sources claim that an unofficial football tournament was organized during the first competition, in which an Athens XI lost to a team representing Smyrna (Izmir), then part of the Ottoman Empire.[1] According to a source, this is an error which has been perpetuated in multiple texts.[2]

Tournaments were played at the 1900 and 1904 games and the Intercalated Games of 1906, but these were contested by various clubs and scratch teams. Although the IOC considers the 1900 and 1904 tournaments to be official Olympic events, they are not recognized by FIFA, and neither recognizes the Intercalated Games today. In 1906 teams from Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France withdrew from an unofficial competition and left Denmark, Smyrna (one Armenian, two Frenchmen and eight Britons), Athens and Thessaloniki to compete. Denmark won the final against Athens 9–0.

British successes

In the London Games of 1908 a proper international tournament was organized by the Football Association, featuring just six teams. The number of teams rose to eleven in 1912, when the competition was organized by the Swedish Football Association. Many of these early matches were unbalanced, as evidenced by high scoring games; two players, Sophus Nielsen in 1908 and Gottfried Fuchs in 1912, each scored ten goals in a single match. All players were amateurs, in accordance with the Olympic spirit, which meant that some countries could not send their full international team. The National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Ireland asked the Football Association to send an English national amateur team. Some of the English members played with professional clubs, most notably Derby County's Ivan Sharpe, Bradford City F.C. Harold Walden and Chelsea's Vivian Woodward. England won the first two official tournaments convincingly, beating Denmark both times.

1920s and the rise of Uruguay

The Uruguay national football team that won the 1928 Olympic tournament

During the 1920 final, the Czechoslovakia national football team walked from the field of play in order to raise awareness of their displeasure regarding the refereeing of John Lewis and the militarised mood within the stadium in Antwerp. In the 1924 and 1928 Olympic games, the first South American teams entered the competition: Uruguay and Argentina. Uruguay won both Olympics and FIFA became conscious that the Olympic movement was not only hindering the ability of nations to participate on an equal footing but, given that the Olympics only permitted amateurs to participate, did not represent the true strength of the international game.

Tumultuous '30s

Following Henri Delaunay's proposal in 1929 to initiate a professional World Championship of Football, the sport was dropped from the 1932 Los Angeles Games by FIFA in an attempt to promote the new tournament. Football returned to controversy at the 1936 Berlin Games. The German organisers were intent on the return of the game to the Olympic movement since it guaranteed income into the organisation's coffers. The Italian team intimidated a referee. Peru scored a contested victory over Austria in overtime, with a fan invasion of the field at the very end. The Austrian team asked for the result to be annulled, and the game repeated. FIFA agreed, but the Peruvian team refused and left the Olympics.[3][4]

Soviet Bloc dominance amid shamateurism controversy

As professionalism spread around the world, the gap in quality between the World Cup and the Olympics widened. The countries that benefited most were the Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs. As a result, young Western amateurs had to face seasoned and veteran Soviet Bloc teams, which put them at a significant disadvantage. All Olympic football tournaments from 1948 to 1992 were dominated by the Soviet Union and its satellites.[5] Between 1948 and 1980, 23 out of 28 Olympic medals were won by Eastern Europe, with only Sweden (gold in 1948 and bronze in 1952), Denmark (bronze in 1948 and silver in 1960) and Japan (bronze in 1968) breaking their dominance.

Changes and developments

For the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players. FIFA still did not want the Olympics to rival the World Cup, so a compromise was struck that allowed teams from countries outside of UEFA and CONMEBOL to field their strongest sides, while restricting UEFA and CONMEBOL (the strongest confederations whose teams played all finals and won every single World Cup title) countries to players who had not played in a World Cup.

Age limit

Since 1992 male competitors have been required to be under 23 years old; since 1996, three over-23-year-old players have been allowed per squad.[lower-alpha 1] African countries have taken particular advantage of this, with Nigeria and Cameroon winning in 1996 and 2000 respectively.

Because of the unusual format, several of the historically strongest men's national teams have unimpressive Olympic records. Uruguay won the tournament in their first two attempts, in 1924 and 1928, their only appearances before they qualified for the 2012 edition, after an 84-year absence. Argentina won silver twice (1928 and 1996) before the 2004 tournament, but its appearance in Athens, in which it won the first gold medal (the second was won in Beijing in 2008), was only their seventh overall (the eighth has been in 2016). Brazil's silver medals in the 1984, 1988 and 2012 editions were the best they had achieved until 2016's gold, and since professional athletes were allowed to compete, they failed to qualify in 1992 and 2004. Italy has only won the Olympic title once, in 1936, although it has also won two bronzes, and has the highest number of appearances in the tournament, at 15, with their last qualify in 2008. France has won the Olympic title only once (in 1984) and has failed to qualify since 1996. Germany's best result (before 2016 edition) was a single bronze medal, in 1988 (as West Germany), and the reunified team did not make an Olympic appearance until 2016, where they won silver. Spain has won the gold medal only once, in 1992. It has also won 2 silver medals (in 1920 and 2000) but has failed to qualify several times.

Addition of women's program

The IOC approved the addition of women's association football as a permanent Olympic event in September 1993, setting an eight-team tournament for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.[7] The 1996 tournament, which came shortly after the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup was organized in 1991,[8] set a record for the largest crowd to see a women's sports event, at 76,481 during the United StatesChina final.[9] The women's tournament uses the senior national teams with no age restrictions, unlike the men's tournament. Therefore, the value of the women's tournament is the same as with the Women's World Cup.

British non-involvement

Football in the United Kingdom has no single governing body, and there are separate teams for the UK's four Home Nations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Only the English Football Association (FA) is affiliated to the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the FA entered "Great Britain" teams to the football tournaments until 1972. In 1974, the FA abolished the distinction between "amateur" and "professional" football, and stopped entering the Olympics. Even though FIFA has allowed professionals at the Olympics since 1984, the FA did not re-enter, as the Home Nations feared that a united British Olympic team would set a precedent that might cause FIFA to question their separate status in other FIFA competitions and on the International Football Association Board.[10][11]

When London was selected to host the 2012 Games, there was pressure on the English FA to exercise the host nation's automatic right to field a team.[12] In 2009 the plan agreed by the FA with the Welsh FA, Scottish FA and Irish FA was only to field English players;[13] however the BOA overruled this,[14] and ultimately there were Welsh players in the men's squad and Scots in the women's squad.[15] After the 2012 games, the FA decided that no team would be entered in subsequent men's tournaments, but was open to fielding a women's team again.[16]

For the 2020 tournament, FIFA stated that women's UK team (not applied to men's UK team) may enter the Olympics after the four FAs agreed, depending on the performance of women's English team in 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup (which serves as the European qualification for the Olympics).[17][18]

Venues

Due to the number of large stadia required for the Olympic tournament, venues in distant cities – often more than 200 km (120 mi) away from the main host – are typically used for the football tournament. In an extreme example, two early-round venues for the 1984 Games were on the East Coast of the United States, well over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the host city of Los Angeles. The next Games held in the United States, the 1996 Games, were unique in that no matches were held in the host city of Atlanta; the nearest venue and the site of the finals was 65 miles (105 km) away on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Counting the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, there are 121 venues that have hosted Olympic football, the most of any sport.

Edition of the Olympic Games City Stadium
Athens 1896 No football tournament
Paris 1900 Paris Vélodrome de Vincennes
Saint Louis 1904 St. Louis, Missouri Francis Field
London 1908 London White City Stadium
Stockholm 1912 Stockholm Stockholms Olympiastadion
Råsunda Stadium
Tranebergs Idrottsplats
Antwerp 1920 Antwerp Olympisch Stadion
Stadion Broodstraat
Brussels Stade de l'Union St. Gilloise
Ghent Stade d'A.A. La Gantoise
Paris 1924 Paris Stade Olympique, Colombes
Stade Bergeyre
Stade de Paris, Saint-Ouen
Stade Pershing, Vincennes
Amsterdam 1928 Amsterdam Olympisch Stadion
Harry Elte Stadium
Los Angeles 1932 No football tournament
Berlin 1936 Berlin Olympiastadion
Poststadion, Tiergarten
Mommsenstadion, Charlottenburg
Hertha-BSC-Platz
London 1948 London Empire Stadium, Wembley
White Hart Lane, Tottenham
Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace
Craven Cottage, Fulham
Griffin Park, Brentford
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Lynn Road Stadium, Ilford
Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow
Champion Hill, Dulwich
Brighton Goldstone Ground
Portsmouth Fratton Park
Helsinki 1952 Helsinki Olympiastadion
Töölö Football Grounds
Turku Kupittaa Stadium
Tampere Ratina Stadion
Lahti Kisapuisto
Kotka Kotka Stadion
Melbourne 1956 Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Ground
Olympic Park Stadium
Rome 1960 Rome Stadio Flaminio
Florence Stadio Comunale
Grosseto Stadio Comunale
Livorno Stadio Ardenza
Pescara Stadio Adriatico
L'Aquila Stadio Comunale
Naples Stadio Fuorigrotta
Tokyo 1964 Tokyo National Olympic Stadium
Prince Chichibu Memorial Field
Komazawa Stadium
Ōmiya Omiya Soccer Stadium
Yokohama Mitsuzawa Football Stadium
Mexico City 1968 Mexico City Estadio Azteca
Puebla Estadio Cuauhtémoc
Guadalajara Estadio Jalisco
León Estadio León
Munich 1972 Munich Olympiastadion
Augsburg Rosenaustadion
Ingolstadt ESV-Stadion
Regensburg Jahnstadion
Nuremberg Städtisches Stadion
Passau Drei Flüsse Stadion
Montreal 1976 Montreal Olympic Stadium
Sherbrooke Municipal Stadium
Toronto Varsity Stadium
Ottawa Lansdowne Stadium
Moscow 1980 Moscow Lenin Stadium
Dynamo Stadium
Leningrad Kirov Stadium
Kyiv Republican Stadium
Minsk Dinamo Stadium
Los Angeles 1984 Pasadena, California Rose Bowl
Boston, Massachusetts Harvard Stadium
Annapolis, Maryland Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Stanford, California Stanford Stadium
Seoul 1988 Seoul Seoul Olympic Stadium
Dongdaemun Stadium
Busan Busan Stadium
Daegu Daegu Stadium
Daejeon Daejeon Stadium
Gwangju Gwangju Stadium
Barcelona 1992 Barcelona Camp Nou
Estadi de Sarrià
Sabadell Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta
Zaragoza Estadio La Romareda
Valencia Estadio Luis Casanova
Atlanta 1996 Athens, Georgia Sanford Stadium
Orlando, Florida Citrus Bowl
Birmingham, Alabama Legion Field
Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
Washington, D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Sydney 2000 Sydney Olympic Stadium
Sydney Football Stadium
Brisbane Brisbane Cricket Ground
Adelaide Hindmarsh Stadium
Canberra Bruce Stadium
Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Athens 2004 Athens Athens Olympic Stadium
Karaiskakis Stadium
Patras Pampeloponnisiako Stadium
Volos Panthessaliko Stadium
Thessaloniki Kaftanzoglio Stadium
Heraklion Pankritio Stadium
Beijing 2008 Beijing Beijing National Stadium
Workers Stadium
Tianjin Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium
Shanghai Shanghai Stadium
Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium
Shenyang Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium
London 2012 London Wembley Stadium
Glasgow Hampden Park
Cardiff Millennium Stadium
Coventry City of Coventry Stadium*
Manchester Old Trafford
Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park*
Rio 2016 Rio de Janeiro Estádio do Maracanã
Estádio Olímpico João Havelange
São Paulo Arena Corinthians
Brasília Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha
Salvador Arena Fonte Nova*
Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão
Manaus Arena da Amazônia
Tokyo 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium
Tokyo Stadium
Yokohama International Stadium Yokohama
Saitama Saitama Stadium 2002
Miyagi Miyagi Stadium
Sapporo Sapporo Dome
  • City of Coventry Stadium & St. James Park were normally called Ricoh Arena & Sports Direct Arena, but because of the IOC's rules disallowing corporate sponsorship for event sites, they were renamed for the duration of the games.
  • Arena Fonte Nova is normally called Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, but because of the IOC's rules disallowing corporate sponsorship for event sites, the venue was renamed for the duration of the games.

Events

Event9600040812202428323648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
Men's event X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 27
Women's event X X X X X X X 7
Total01111111011111111111112222222

Competition format

For both the men's and women's tournaments, the competition consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout stage. Teams are placed into groups of 4 teams, with each team playing each other team in its group once. Teams earn 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The top two teams in each group (as well as the top two third-place finishers, in the women's tournament) advance to the knockout rounds. The knockout rounds are a single-elimination tournament consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and the gold and bronze medal matches.

Matches consist of two halves of 45 minutes each. Since 2004, during the knockout rounds, if the match is tied after 90 minutes, two 15-minute halves of extra time are played (extra time is skipped in favor of immediate penalty kicks in the bronze medal match if it is played on the same day in the same stadium as the gold medal match). If the score remains tied, penalty kicks, which is 5 rounds, plus extra rounds if tied, are used to determine the winner.[19]

Men's tournament

Men's Olympic Football Tournament
Founded1900[20]
RegionInternational (FIFA)
Number of teams16 (finals)
(from 6 confederations)
Current champions Brazil
(1st title)
Most successful team(s) Great Britain
 Hungary
(3 titles each)
2020 Summer Olympics

The qualifying tournament, like that for the World Cup, is organised along continental lines. Most continental confederations organise a special Under-23 qualifying tournament, although the European qualifiers are drawn from the finalists of the UEFA Under-21 Championship and South American qualifiers from the South American Youth Championship, which is a U-20 tournament. Teams participating in the preliminary and final competitions must be composed of U-23 players, with up to three players who are at least 23. For Tokyo 2020, U-23 players are born after 1 January 1997.[lower-alpha 1][21]

For the 2020 Games, the number of places allocated to each continent is:

Participating nations

Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games.

UEFA
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Austria62=11=54
 Belarus101
 Belgium3115=545
 Bulgaria10=173525
 Czech Republic141
 Czechoslovakia99291Split into Slovakia and Czech Republic5
 Denmark22103=5261389
 East Germany[22]3312Merged with West Germany4
 Estonia=171
 Finland4=9=1494
 France2545=9=5=1797515Q13
 Germany[23]7=5=64=95532Q10
 Great Britain11111=64=17=58510
 Greece13=17153
 Hungary513=913112169
 Ireland7=172
 IsraelCompeted with Asia (qualified 2 times)2
 Italy85631=5=944451253515
 Latvia161
 Lithuania=171
 Luxembourg1211=9=9=9=96
 Netherlands3334=9=9=1778
 Norway973=14105
 Poland=174=9101227
 Portugal=541464
 Romania14=175Q4
 Russia101
 Serbia121
 Serbia and Montenegro16Split into 2 nations1
 Slovakia131
 Soviet Union=913331Split into 15 nations6
 Spain2=17=56121016214Q11
 Sweden41163=913661510
 Switzerland2=9133
 Turkey=17=9=9=5=5146
 Yugoslavia9=17=9222164310Split into 7 nations11
CONMEBOL
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Argentina2710821111Q9
 Brazil=569131342237321Q14
 Chile17=17734
 Colombia1011111465
 Paraguay722
 Peru5112
 Uruguay1193
 Venezuela121
CONCACAF
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Canada11363
 Costa Rica161383
 Cuba1172
 El Salvador151
 Guatemala810163
 Honduras1016744
 Mexico=9=1111479107=101911
 Netherlands Antilles=14Split into 2 n.1
 United States2[24]312=9=9=11=17=5149129104914
CAF
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Algeria8142
 Cameroon11183
 Egypt884=9=11=91248128Q12
 Ivory Coast6Q2
 Gabon121
 Ghana712163896
 Guinea111
 Mali51
 Morocco138121516=10117
 Nigeria14131518237
 Senegal61
 South Africa1113Q3
 Sudan151
 Tunisia151314124
 Zambia1552
AFC
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Afghanistan=171
 AustraliaCompeted with Oceania (qualified 6 times)11Q2
 China14132
 Chinese Taipei=9=11163
 India=11=174134
 Indonesia=51
 Iran121273
 Iraq51494125
 Israel56Competed with Europe2
 Japan=6=983961315410Q11
 Kuwait616123
 Malaysia101
 Myanmar91
 North Korea81
 Qatar1582
 Saudi Arabia1615Q3
 South Korea=514111111961035Q11
 Syria141
 Thailand=9162
 United Arab Emirates151
OFC
Nation000408122024283648525660646872768084889296000408121620Years
 Australia=57413157AFC (qualified 2 times)6
 Fiji 161
 New Zealand 1416Q3
Total nations 325111422171618251116141616131616161616161616161616

Results

Edition Year Hosts Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
1896
Athens
No football tournament
1 1900
Details

Paris

Great Britain
(Upton Park F.C.)
[25]
France
(Club Français)

Belgium
(ULB)
[25] Three teams entered
2 1904
Details

St. Louis

Canada
(Galt F.C.)
[26]
United States
(Christian Bro. College)

United States
(St. Rose Parish)
[26] Three teams entered
3 1908
Details

London

Great Britain
2–0
Denmark

Netherlands
2–0
Sweden
4 1912
Details

Stockholm

Great Britain
4–2
Denmark

Netherlands
9–0
Finland
5 1920
Details

Antwerp

Belgium
[27]
Spain

Netherlands
[27]
France
6 1924
Details

Paris

Uruguay
3–0
Switzerland

Sweden
1–1
aet

Netherlands
Match replay: 3–1
7 1928
Details

Amsterdam

Uruguay
1–1
aet

Argentina

Italy
11–3
Egypt
Match replay: 2–1
1932
Los Angeles
No football tournament
8 1936
Details

Berlin

Italy
2–1
aet

Austria

Norway
3–2
Poland
9 1948
Details

London

Sweden
3–1
Yugoslavia

Denmark
5–3
Great Britain
10 1952
Details

Helsinki

Hungary
2–0
Yugoslavia

Sweden
2–0
Germany
11 1956
Details

Melbourne

Soviet Union
1–0
Yugoslavia

Bulgaria
3–0
India
12 1960
Details

Rome

Yugoslavia
3–1
Denmark

Hungary
2–1
Italy
13 1964
Details

Tokyo

Hungary
2–1
Czechoslovakia

Germany[22]
3–1
United Arab Republic
14 1968
Details

Mexico City

Hungary
4–1
Bulgaria

Japan
2–0
Mexico
15 1972
Details

Munich

Poland
2–1
Hungary

East Germany

Soviet Union
2–2[28]
aet
16 1976
Details

Montreal

East Germany
3–1
Poland

Soviet Union
2–0
Brazil
17 1980
Details

Moscow

Czechoslovakia
1–0
East Germany

Soviet Union
2–0
Yugoslavia
18 1984
Details

Los Angeles

France
2–0
Brazil

Yugoslavia
2–1
Italy
19 1988
Details

Seoul

Soviet Union
2–1
aet

Brazil

West Germany
3–0
Italy
20 1992
Details

Barcelona

Spain
3–2
Poland

Ghana
1–0
Australia
21 1996
Details

Atlanta

Nigeria
3–2
Argentina

Brazil
5–0
Portugal
22 2000
Details

Sydney

Cameroon
2–2
asdet

Spain

Chile
2–0
United States
5–3 on penalty shoot-out
23 2004
Details

Athens

Argentina
1–0
Paraguay

Italy
1–0
Iraq
24 2008
Details

Beijing

Argentina
1–0
Nigeria

Brazil
3–0
Belgium
25 2012
Details

London

Mexico
2–1
Brazil

South Korea
2–0
Japan
26 2016
Details

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil
1–1
aet

Germany

Nigeria
3–2
Honduras
5–4 on penalty shoot-out
27 2020
Details

Tokyo

* Under-23 tournament since 1992.

Performances by countries

Below are the 41 nations that have reached at least the semi-final stage in the Summer Olympics finals.

Team Gold medals Silver medals Bronze medals Fourth place Medals
 Hungary 3 (1952, 1964, 1968) 1 (1972) 1 (1960) 5
 Great Britain 3 (1900, 1908, 1912) 1 (1948) 3
 Argentina 2 (2004, 2008) 2 (1928, 1996) 4
 Soviet Union 2 (1956, 1988) 3 (1972, 1976, 1980) 5
 Uruguay 2 (1924, 1928) 2
 Brazil 1 (2016) 3 (1984, 1988, 2012) 2 (1996, 2008) 1 (1976) 6
 Yugoslavia 1 (1960) 3 (1948, 1952, 1956) 1 (1984) 1 (1980) 5
 Poland 1 (1972) 2 (1976, 1992) 1 (1936) 3
 Spain 1 (1992) 2 (1920, 2000) 3
 East Germany 1 (1976) 1 (1980) 1 (1972) 3
 Nigeria 1 (1996) 1 (2008) 1 (2016) 3
 France 1 (1984) 1 (1900) 1 (1920) 2
 Czechoslovakia 1 (1980) 1 (1964) 2
 Italy 1 (1936) 2 (1928, 2004) 3 (1960, 1984, 1988) 3
 Sweden 1 (1948) 2 (1924, 1952) 1 (1908) 3
 Belgium 1 (1920) 1 (1900) 1 (2008) 2
 Mexico 1 (2012) 1 (1968) 1
 Canada 1 (1904) 1
 Cameroon 1 (2000) 1
 Denmark 3 (1908, 1912, 1960) 1 (1948) 4
 United States 1 (1904) 1 (1904) 1 (2000) 2
 Bulgaria 1 (1968) 1 (1956) 2
 Germany 1 (2016) 1 (1952) 1
  Switzerland 1 (1924) 1
 Austria 1 (1936) 1
 Paraguay 1 (2004) 1
 Netherlands 3 (1908, 1912, 1920) 1 (1924) 3
 Japan 1 (1968) 1 (2012) 1
 Norway 1 (1936) 1
 United Team of Germany 1 (1964) 1
 West Germany 1 (1988) 1
 Ghana 1 (1992) 1
 Chile 1 (2000) 1
 South Korea 1 (2012) 1
 Egypt 2 (1928, 1964) 0
 Finland 1 (1912) 0
 India 1 (1956) 0
 Australia 1 (1992) 0
 Portugal 1 (1996) 0
 Iraq 1 (2004) 0
 Honduras 1 (2016) 0

Top scorers by tournament

Year Player Goals
1900 Gaston Peltier
John Nicholas
2
1904 Alexander Hall
Tom Taylor
3
1908 Sophus Nielsen 11
1912 Gottfried Fuchs 10
1920 Herbert Karlsson 7
1924 Pedro Petrone 7
1928 Domingo Tarasconi 9
1936 Annibale Frossi 7
1948 John Hansen
Gunnar Nordahl
7
1952 Rajko Mitić
Branko Zebec
7
1956 Neville D'Souza
Todor Veselinović
Dimitar Milanov
4
1960 Harald Nielsen 8
1964 Ferenc Bene 12
1968 Kunishige Kamamoto 7
1972 Kazimierz Deyna 9
1976 Andrzej Szarmach 6
1980 Sergey Andreyev 5
1984 Borislav Cvetković
Stjepan Deverić
Daniel Xuereb
5
1988 Romario 7
1992 Andrzej Juskowiak 7
1996 Bebeto
Hernán Crespo
6
2000 Iván Zamorano 6
2004 Carlos Tevez 8
2008 Giuseppe Rossi 4
2012 Leandro Damião 6
2016 Serge Gnabry
Nils Petersen
6

Records

Denmark's Sophus Nielsen and Hungary's Antal Dunai share the record for the most goals scored by a player in the tournament history, both with 13 goals, since the first official football tournament held in London, England, 1908; with Nielsen scoring 11 goals in 1908, and 2 in 1912, and Dunai scoring 6 in 1968 and 7 in 1972. Ferenc Bene holds the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Olympics tournament, scoring 12 goals in the 1964 edition. Sophus Nielson also shares with Gottfried Fuchs the record of most goals in a single Olympics game, both with 10, with Nielson achieving that in the semi-final match against France in 1908, and Fuchs in the 1-round match against Russia in 1912 Consolation tournament.

Neymar marked the fastest goal in a men's Olympic football match in history at 14 seconds in the semi-final match against Honduras on 17 August 2016.[29]

All-time top scorers

The all-time top goalscorers with at least 7 goals (since 1908)

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Sophus Nielsen Denmark 13
Antal Dunai Hungary 13
3 Ferenc Bene Hungary 12
4 Domingo Tarasconi Argentina 11
Pedro Petrone Uruguay 11
6 Gottfried Fuchs Germany 10
Kazimierz Deyna Poland 10
8 Harold Walden Great Britain 9
Vilhelm Wolfhagen Denmark 9
10 Jan Vos Netherlands 8
Hector Scarone Uruguay 8
Carlos Tevez Argentina 8
Bebeto Brazil 8
Harald Nielsen Denmark 8
Ibrahim Reyadh Egypt 8
15 John Hansen Denmark 7
Anthon Olsen Denmark 7
Gunnar Nordahl Sweden 7
Annibale Frossi Italy 7
Vilhelm Wolfhagen Denmark 7
Herbert Carlsson Sweden 7
Branko Zebec Yugoslavia 7
Milan Galić Yugoslavia 7
Kunishige Kamamoto Japan 7
Andrzej Juskowiak Poland 7
Romario Brazil 7
Neymar Brazil 7

Medal table

  • Countries ranked by total medals won including 1900 and 1904.
  • Bronze medals shared in 1972 tournament
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Hungary (HUN)3115
2 Great Britain (GBR)3003
3 Argentina (ARG)2204
4 Soviet Union (URS)2035
5 Uruguay (URU)2002
6 Brazil (BRA)1326
7 Yugoslavia (YUG)1315
8 Poland (POL)1203
 Spain (ESP)1203
10 East Germany (GDR)1113
 Nigeria (NGR)1113
12 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1102
 France (FRA)1102
14 Italy (ITA)1023
 Sweden (SWE)1023
16 Belgium (BEL)1012
17 Cameroon (CMR)1001
 Canada (CAN)1001
 Mexico (MEX)1001
20 Denmark (DEN)0314
21 Bulgaria (BUL)0112
 United States (USA)0112
23 Austria (AUT)0101
 Germany (GER)0101
 Paraguay (PAR)0101
 Switzerland (SUI)0101
27 Netherlands (NED)0033
28 Chile (CHI)0011
 Ghana (GHA)0011
 Japan (JPN)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
 South Korea (KOR)0011
 United Team of Germany (EUA)0011
 West Germany (FRG)0011
Totals (34 nations)26262779

Women's tournament

Women's Olympic Football Tournament
Founded1996
RegionInternational (FIFA)
Number of teams12 (finals)
(from 6 confederations)
Current champions Germany
(1st title)
Most successful team(s) United States
(4 titles)
2020 Summer Olympics

The women's tournament is contested between full national sides, with no age restrictions. One place is reserved for the host country. Of the remaining teams, as in World Cup contests a specific number of places are reserved for teams from each continental region; the European (UEFA) teams are chosen from the most successful European teams in the previous year's World Cup, whilst the other continental regions host their own qualifying tournaments in the build-up to the Olympics.

The first women's tournament was at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The United States won the gold medal, and picked up silver in 2000 after a golden goal loss to Norway. The finals of the next two tournaments, in 2004 and 2008, also went to extra time, with the U.S. defeating Brazil both times. In 2012 the U.S. won their fourth gold medal defeating Japan 2–1 in the final. In 2016 Germany won its first gold, defeating Sweden in the final.

Allocation of places for each continent in the 2020 Games is:

Participating nations

Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games. Host nation is shown in bold.

Nation96000408121620Years
 Argentina=111
 Australia757Q4
 Brazil442264Q7
 Cameroon121
 Canada833Q4
 China259585
 Colombia11112
 Denmark81
 France462
 Germany533315
 Great Britain5Q2
 Greece101
 Japan7742Q5
 Mexico81
 NetherlandsQ1
 New Zealand1089Q4
 Nigeria86=113
 North Korea992
 Norway3173
 South Africa10102
 Sweden664672Q7
 United States121115Q7
 ZambiaQ1
 Zimbabwe121
Total nations881012121212

Results

Edition Year Hosts Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
1 1996
Details

Atlanta

United States
2–1
China

Norway
2–0
Brazil
2 2000
Details

Sydney

Norway
3–2
asdet

United States

Germany
2–0
Brazil
3 2004
Details

Athens

United States
2–1
aet

Brazil

Germany
1–0
Sweden
4 2008
Details

Beijing

United States
1–0
aet

Brazil

Germany
2–0
Japan
5 2012
Details

London

United States
2–1
Japan

Canada
1–0
France
6 2016
Details

Rio de Janeiro

Germany
2–1
Sweden

Canada
2–1
Brazil
7 2020
Details

Tokyo

Performances by countries

Below are the 9 nations that have reached at least the semi-final stage in the Summer Olympics finals.

Team Gold medals Silver medals Bronze medals Fourth place Medals
 United States 4 (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) 1 (2000) 5
 Germany 1 (2016) 3 (2000, 2004, 2008) 4
 Norway 1 (2000) 1 (1996) 2
 Brazil 2 (2004, 2008) 3 (1996, 2000, 2016) 2
 Japan 1 (2012) 1 (2008) 1
 Sweden 1 (2016) 1 (2004) 1
 China PR 1 (1996) 1
 Canada 2 (2012, 2016) 2
 France 1 (2012) 0

Top scorers by tournament

Year Player Goals
1996 Ann Kristin Aarønes
Linda Medalen
Pretinha
4
2000 Sun Wen 4
2004 Cristiane
Birgit Prinz
5
2008 Cristiane 5
2012 Christine Sinclair 6
2016 Melanie Behringer 5

All-time top scorers

The all-time top goalscorers with at least 5 goals (1996–2016)

14 goals
11 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)4105
2 Germany (GER)1034
3 Norway (NOR)1012
4 Brazil (BRA)0202
5 China (CHN)0101
 Japan (JPN)0101
 Sweden (SWE)0101
8 Canada (CAN)0022
Totals (8 nations)66618

Overall medal table

  • Countries ranked by total medals won (men's and women's) including 1900 and 1904.
  • Bronze medals shared in 1972 tournament
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)4217
2 Hungary (HUN)3115
3 Great Britain (GBR)3003
4 Argentina (ARG)2204
5 Soviet Union (URS)2035
6 Uruguay (URU)2002
7 Brazil (BRA)1528
8 Yugoslavia (YUG)1315
9 Poland (POL)1203
 Spain (ESP)1203
11 Germany (GER)1135
12 Sweden (SWE)1124
13 East Germany (GDR)1113
 Nigeria (NGR)1113
15 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1102
 France (FRA)1102
17 Canada (CAN)1023
 Italy (ITA)1023
 Norway (NOR)1023
20 Belgium (BEL)1012
21 Cameroon (CMR)1001
 Mexico (MEX)1001
23 Denmark (DEN)0314
24 Bulgaria (BUL)0112
 Japan (JPN)0112
26 Austria (AUT)0101
 China (CHN)0101
 Paraguay (PAR)0101
 Switzerland (SUI)0101
30 Netherlands (NED)0033
31 Chile (CHI)0011
 Ghana (GHA)0011
 South Korea (KOR)0011
 United Team of Germany (EUA)0011
 West Germany (FRG)0011
Totals (35 nations)32323397

See also

Notes

  1. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, the age for the eligible players who have been already qualified are adjusted to under 24 years old. In this case, that Olympics was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.[6]

References

  1. Goldblatt, David (30 August 2007). The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Football. Penguin Books. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-14-101582-8.
  2. Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. p. 118. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9.
  3. Doyle, Paul (24 November 2011). "The forgotten story of ... football, farce and fascism at the 1936 Olympics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  4. "Controversia – Berlín 36. Un mito derrumbado (The Berlin '36 Controversy. A myth debunked.)" (in Spanish). Larepublica.com.pe. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Olympic men's football age limit raised to 24 after Tokyo Games postponement". The Guardian. Associated Press. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  7. "Women Sports Get a Boost". The New York Times. 20 September 1993. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  8. "Players". The Seattle Times. 17 October 1993. p. C2.
  9. Gildea, William (2 August 1996). "U.S. Women's Soccer Team Wins Gold". The Washington Post. p. A1. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 August 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/YOUR-VIEWS-Olympic-football-threat.4327759%5B%5D
  12. "Brown pays tribute to GB success". BBC News. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  13. "Nations pave way for 2012 GB team". BBC Sport. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  14. "London 2012 Olympics: Gareth Bale and non-English players have 'legal right' to play for Team GB". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  15. Idessane, Kheredine (29 June 2012). "London 2012: No Scotland or N Ireland in Olympic football squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  16. Kelso, Paul (14 August 2012). "British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Hunt criticises Football Association for lack of support". London: Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  17. "Organising Committee takes important decisions on FIFA Women's World Cup". FIFA.com. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  18. "Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Home nations agree to GB women's football team". BBC Sport. 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  19. "Regulations for the Olympic Football Tournaments" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  20. The 1900 and 1904 tournaments, they are not recognized by FIFA. The competition has been held regularly, except 1932. Since 1992 compete exclusively the U23 national teams.
  21. "REGULATIONS for the Olympic Football Tournaments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2015.
  22. The East German team represented the United Team of Germany in 1964, winning the bronze medal.
  23. The team represented the United Team of Germany in 1956, and the Federal Republic of Germany (i.e., West Germany) in 1972, 1984 and 1988, and winning the bronze medal in 1988.
  24. The United States had two teams at the 1904 Games, taking the silver and bronze medals.
  25. The 1900 tournament was originally a pair of demonstration matches between the three teams, but has subsequently been upgraded to official status by the IOC with medals attributed to the teams based upon the match results.
  26. The 1904 tournament was originally a set of demonstration matches between the three teams, but has subsequently been upgraded to official status by the IOC with medals attributed to the teams based upon the round-robin results.
  27. In 1920, Czechoslovakia abandoned the final match against Belgium after 40 minutes with the latter up 2–0. They were disqualified, and a mini-tournament to figure out the other medalists was held, with Spain beating the Netherlands for second place 3–1.
  28. Ended 2–2 at the end of extra time. Both teams were awarded bronze medals.
  29. "Video: Watch Neymar net the fastest goal in Olympic history to take host nation Brazil into football final". 18 August 2016. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
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