Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics

International football competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The football tournament of the 1948 Summer Olympics was won by Sweden.[1] This remains Sweden's only international title at a senior male football level and was the first international appearance of the trio that would later be known as Gre-No-Li dominating the Italian league at A.C. Milan in the 1950s.

Host country Great Britain
Dates26 July – 13 August 1948
Teams18 (from 5 confederations)
Venue13 (in 3 host cities)
Quick facts Tournament details, Host country ...
Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Sweden, gold medal winners
Tournament details
Host country Great Britain
Dates26 July – 13 August 1948
Teams18 (from 5 confederations)
Venue13 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Sweden (1st title)
Runners-up Yugoslavia
Third place Denmark
Fourth place Great Britain
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored102 (5.67 per match)
Top scorer(s)Sweden Gunnar Nordahl
Denmark John Hansen (7 goals)
1936
1952
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It was the first international football tournament ever to be broadcast on television, with the semi-finals, bronze medal play-off and final all being broadcast live in full on the BBC Television Service.[2]

Venues

More information Wembley, Highbury ...
Wembley Highbury Dulwich Fulham
Empire Stadium Arsenal Stadium Champion Hill Craven Cottage
Walthamstow

London
 

South coast (→)

Tottenham
Green Pond Road White Hart Lane




Brentford
Griffin Park
Ilford Brighton
Lynn Road Goldstone Ground




South Norwood Portsmouth
Selhurst Park Fratton Park








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Participating nations

Squads

Final tournament

The Indian team at 1948 Olympics, captain Talimeren Ao at the centre of first row, goal scorer Sarangapani Raman next to Ao and coach Balaidas Chatterjee to the furthest right.

The tournament began on 26 July 1948 with a preliminary round of two matches: Luxembourg defeating Afghanistan 6–0 and the Netherlands beating Ireland 3–1, with Faas Wilkes scoring two goals for the Dutch. In the first round, which began five days later, the Netherlands played Great Britain at Highbury, Britain prevailing 4–3 after extra time. In goal for Britain was Ronnie Simpson, who would go on to become the oldest Scottish international debutant in history and one of the Lisbon Lions. Yugoslavia (victors over Luxembourg) and Sweden (3–0 winners against Austria) also went through. France eliminated India.

12-panel brown leather football on a plinth of hardwood, with a brass panel inscribed with the names of the victorious team members, photographed through the glass of a display case
The final match ball.

Sweden's style of play at White Hart Lane attracted much attention. Their forward line contained three exceptional players; one of them Gunnar Gren scored a brace in an easy win. There were two goals, as well, for future FIFA World Cup star Željko Čajkovski in Yugoslavia's 6–1 rout of Luxembourg, although they were behind at half-time. South Korea beat Mexico 5–3. Walter Bahr, Ed Souza, Charlie Colombo and John Souza were part of the United States team that lost 9–0 to Italy, conceding five goals at the end of the match when they were down to nine men. They would later participate in the 1950 FIFA World Cup and beat the favourites England in one of the greatest upsets in football history.

In the quarter-finals, Sweden defeated both the South Koreans and the Danes in the semi-final. In the second semi-final, Great Britain played Yugoslavia at Wembley Stadium, going out by three goals to one. 3–1 was also the score in the final in favour of Sweden over Yugoslavia.

Preliminary round

More information Luxembourg, 6–0 ...
Luxembourg 6–0 Afghanistan
Gales 6', 79'
Kettel 40'
Schammel 41'
Paulus 62', 80'
Report
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Attendance: 5,000
Referee: A.C. Williams (Great Britain)

More information Netherlands, 3–1 ...
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Attendance: 8,000
Referee: George Reader (Great Britain)

First round

More information Yugoslavia, 6–1 ...
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Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

More information Denmark, 3–1 (a.e.t.) ...
Denmark 3–1 (a.e.t.) Egypt
K. Hansen 82', 95'
Pløger 119' (pen.)
Report El Guindy 83'
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Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)

More information Great Britain, 4–3 (a.e.t.) ...
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Attendance: 21,000
Referee: Vald Laursen (Denmark)

More information France, 2–1 ...
France 2–1 India
Courbin 30'
Persillon 89'
Report Raman 70'
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Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Gunnar Dahlner (Sweden)

More information Turkey, 4–0 ...
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Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Johann Beck (Austria)

More information Sweden, 3–0 ...
Sweden 3–0 Austria
G. Nordahl 2', 10'
Rosen 71'
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Attendance: 9,514
Referee: William Ling (Great Britain)

More information South Korea, 5–3 ...
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Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Leo Lemešić (Yugoslavia)

More information Italy, 9–0 ...
Italy 9–0 United States
Pernigo 2', 57', 88', 90'
Stellin 25' (pen.)
Turconi 46'
Cavigioli 72', 87'
Caprile 90'
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Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Charles de la Salle (France)

Quarter-finals

More information Yugoslavia, 3–1 ...
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Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Victor Sdez (France)

More information Sweden, 12–0 ...
Sweden 12–0 South Korea
Liedholm 11', 62'
G. Nordahl 25', 40', 78', 80'
Gren 27'
Carlsson 61', 64', 82'
Rosén 72', 85'
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Attendance: 7,110
Referee: Giuseppe Carpani (Italy)

More information Great Britain, 1–0 ...
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Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

More information Denmark, 5–3 ...
Denmark 5–3 Italy
John Hansen 30', 53', 74', 82'
Pløger 84'
Report Cavigioli 49'
Caprile 67'
Pernigo 81'
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Attendance: 25,000
Referee: William Ling (Great Britain)

Semi-finals

More information Sweden, 4–2 ...
Sweden 4–2 Denmark
Carlsson 18', 42'
Rosén 31', 37'
Report Seebach 3'
John Hansen 77'
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Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)

More information Great Britain, 1–3 ...
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Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

Bronze medal match

More information Great Britain, 3–5 ...
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Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

Gold medal match

More information Sweden, 3–1 ...
Sweden 3–1 Yugoslavia
Gren 24', 67' (pen.)
G. Nordahl 48'
Report Bobek 42'
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Attendance: 60,000
More information Team details ...
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Bracket

 
Preliminary roundFirst roundQuarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinals
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Afghanistan0
 
 
 
 Luxembourg6
 
 Yugoslavia6
 
 
 
 Luxembourg1
 
 Yugoslavia
 
 
 
bye
 
 Yugoslavia3
 
 
 
 Turkey1
 
 Turkey
 
 
 
bye
 
 Turkey4
 
 
 
Republic of China0
 
Republic of China
 
 
 
bye
 
 Yugoslavia3
 
 
 
 Great Britain1
 
 Netherlands3
 
 
 
 Republic of Ireland1
 
 Great Britain (a.e.t.)4
 
 
 
 Netherlands3
 
 Great Britain
 
 
 
bye
 
 Great Britain1
 
 
 
 France0
 
 France
 
 
 
bye
 
 France2
 
 
 
 India1
 
 India
 
 
 
bye
 
 Yugoslavia1
 
 
 
 Sweden3
 
 Sweden
 
 
 
bye
 
 Sweden3
 
 
 
 Austria0
 
 Austria
 
 
 
bye
 
 Sweden12
 
 
 
 South Korea0
 
 South Korea
 
 
 
bye
 
 South Korea5
 
 
 
 Mexico3
 
 Mexico
 
 
 
bye
 
 Sweden4
 
 
 
 Denmark2 Bronze Medal match
 
 Denmark
 
  
 
bye
 
 Denmark (a.e.t.)3 Great Britain3
 
 
 
 Egypt1  Denmark5
 
 Egypt
 
 
 
bye
 
 Denmark5
 
 
 
 Italy3
 
 Italy
 
 
 
bye
 
 Italy9
 
 
 
 United States0
 
 United States
 
 
bye
 

Medalists

Statistics

Goalscorers

7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

References

Sources

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