The oldest and most traditional international tournament in world football. After serving as a demonstration sport at the first Olympic Games, the football tournament of the Olympic Games reached its peak in the 1920s when the tournament must be regarded as the world championship of that time. However, with the introduction of a proper World Cup in 1930, the status of the tournament diminished. Especially, as only amateur players were allowed to participate, the tournament was for many years dominated by state amateurs from Eastern Europe. To counter this, and raise the status of Olympic football, professional players were allowed to participate in the 1980s, though subject to certain restrictions, first regarding prior World Cup experience (something that appears to have applied since at least 1960, also for the Eastern European countries) and then regarding player age (U23).
Gold Silver Bronze
---- ------ ------
1908 Great Britain Denmark Netherlands
1912 Great Britain Denmark Netherlands
1920 Belgium Spain Netherlands
1924 Uruguay Switzerland Sweden
1928 Uruguay Argentina Italy
1932 no Olympic football tournament
1936 Italy Austria Norway
1948 Sweden Yugoslavia Denmark
1952 Hungary Yugoslavia Sweden
1956 Soviet Union Yugoslavia Bulgaria
1960 Yugoslavia Denmark Hungary
1964 Hungary Czechoslovakia East Germany
1968 Hungary Bulgaria Japan
1972 Poland Hungary Soviet Union, East Germany
1976 East Germany Poland Soviet Union
1980 Czechoslovakia East Germany Soviet Union
1984 France Brazil Yugoslavia
1988 Soviet Union Brazil West Germany
1992 Spain Poland Ghana
1996 Nigeria Argentina Brazil
2000 Cameroon Spain Chile
2004 Argentina Paraguay Italy
2008 Argentina Nigeria Brazil
Gold Silver Bronze Total
---- ------ ------ -----
1.Hungary 3 1 1 5
2.Argentina 2 2 4
3.Soviet Union 2 3 5
4.Great Britain 2 2
Uruguay 2 2
6.Yugoslavia 1 3 1 5
Poland 1 2 3
Spain 1 2 3
9.East Germany 1 1 2 4
10.Czechoslovakia 1 1 2
Nigeria 1 1 2
12.Italy 1 2 3
Sweden 1 2 3
14.Belgium 1 1
Cameroon 1 1
France 1 1
17.Denmark 3 1 4
18.Brazil 2 2 4
19.Bulgaria 1 1 2
20.Austria 1 1
Paraguay 1 1
Switzerland 1 1
23.Netherlands 3 3
24.Chile 1 1
Ghana 1 1
Japan 1 1
Norway 1 1
West Germany 1 1
Total 22 22 23 67
Final Third Place Match
1896 no Olympic football tournament
1900 [Demonstration matches in Paris, France] [1]
1904 [Demonstration matches in St. Louis, USA] [1]
1906 [Unofficial tournament in Athens, Greece] [1]
1908 Great Britain 2-0 Denmark Netherlands 2-0 Sweden
[Final tournament in London, England]
1912 Great Britain 4-2 Denmark Netherlands 9-0 Finland
[Final tournament in Stockholm, Sweden]
1920 Belgium Abd Czechoslovakia Spain 3-1 Netherlands [2]
[Final tournament in Antwerpen, Belgium]
1924 Uruguay 3-0 Switzerland Sweden 1-1 3-1 Netherlands
[Final tournament in Paris, France]
1928 Uruguay 1-1 2-1 Argentina Italy 11-3 Egypt
[Final tournament in Amsterdam, Netherlands]
1932 no Olympic football tournament
1936 Italy 2-1 Austria Norway 3-2 Poland
[Final tournament in Berlin, Germany]
1948 Sweden 3-1 Yugoslavia Denmark 5-3 Great Britain
[Final tournament in London, England]
1952 Hungary 2-0 Yugoslavia Sweden 2-0 West Germany
[Final tournament in Helsinki, Finland]
1956 Soviet Union 1-0 Yugoslavia Bulgaria 3-0 India
[Final tournament in Melbourne, Australia] [Qualifying]
1960 Yugoslavia 3-1 Denmark Hungary 2-1 Italy
[Final tournament in Rome, Italy] [Qualifying]
1964 Hungary 2-1 Czechoslovakia East Germany 3-1 Egypt
[Final tournament in Tokyo, Japan] [Qualifying]
1968 Hungary 4-1 Bulgaria Japan 2-0 Mexico
[Final tournament in Mexico City, Mexico] [Qualifying]
1972 Poland 2-1 Hungary Soviet Union 2-2 East Germany [3]
[Final tournament in Munich, West Germany] [Qualifying]
1976 East Germany 3-1 Poland Soviet Union 2-0 Brazil
[Final tournament in Montreal, Canada] [Qualifying]
1980 Czechoslovakia 1-0 East Germany Soviet Union 2-0 Yugoslavia
[Final tournament in Moscow, Soviet Union] [Qualifying]
1984 France 2-0 Brazil Yugoslavia 2-1 Italy
[Final tournament in Los Angeles, USA] [Qualifying]
1988 Soviet Union 2-1 Brazil [aet] West Germany 3-0 Italy
[Final tournament in Seoul, South Korea] [Qualifying]
1992 Spain 3-2 Poland Ghana 1-0 Australia
[Final tournament in Barcelona, Spain] [Qualifying]
1996 Nigeria 3-2 Argentina Brazil 5-0 Portugal
[Final tournament in Atlanta, USA] [Qualifying]
2000 Cameroon 2-2 Spain [aet, 5-3p] Chile 2-0 USA
[Final tournament in Sydney, Australia] [Qualifying]
2004 Argentina 1-0 Paraguay Italy 1-0 Iraq
[Final tournament in Athens, Greece] [Qualifying]
2008 Argentina 1-0 Nigeria Brazil 3-0 Belgium
[Final tournament in Beijing, China] [Qualifying]
[1] None of these tournaments are considered official, and are not counted
in the medals classification.
[2] Czechoslovakia left the pitch in the final against Belgium, with the
score 2-0 for Belgium, on grounds of biased refereeing. They were
disqualified, and a silver medal match was played between the Netherlands
and Spain (for a complete explanation of the set-up at those Games,
see the relevant tournament file).
[3] The bronze medal was shared.
1896-1980: open to amateur players only 1984-1988: open to any players having not appeared in World Cup matches (Africa, Asia and Oceania excepted) 1992- : open to under-23 year old players, plus three over-aged players
Prepared and maintained by Lars Aarhus for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Lars Aarhus
(lars@rsssf.no)
Last updated: 12 Sep 2008
(C) Copyright Lars Aarhus and RSSSF 1997/2008
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.