Football at the Summer Olympics

Beginnings

Football was not included in the program at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, as international football was in its infancy at the time. Some sources claim however that an unofficial football tournament was organised during the first competition, with participating teams including Athens and Smyrna (İzmir), then part of the Ottoman Empire,^[14] but according to Bill Mallon's research, this is an error which has been perpetuated in multiple texts.^[15]

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.^[14] Although the IOC considers the 1900 and 1904 tournaments to be official Olympic events, they are not recognised by FIFA, and neither recognises the Intercalated Games today. In 1900 the competition was won by the London amateurs of Upton Park FC, representing Great Britain. The 1904 tournament was won by Canada, represented by Galt FC.

British successes

In the London Games of 1908 a proper international tournament was organised by the Football Association, featuring just six teams. The number of teams rose to eleven in 1912, when the competition was organised 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 rules, which meant that countries could not send their full senior national teams. 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

During the 1920 final against Belgium, the Czechoslovakia national football team walked off the field to protest the refereeing of John Lewis^[16] and the militarised mood within the stadium in Antwerp. This would be the final all-European football competition at the Olympic games, with Egypt, the United States, and Uruguay participating in 1924.^[16] FIFA organized the 1924 edition, desiring to create a true world championship for the first time; they implemented their own rules and opened the tournament up to professional player participation. With teams from new regions, the quality of play increased, as did fan interest.^[16] Uruguay dominated the tournament, winning their four games by a combined score of 15-1: the final was a 3–0 victory over Switzerland.^[16] In 1928, football was the most popular event at the games^[17] and the final was an all-South American affair. Because no other major international tournament existed yet, Uruguay defeated Argentina 2–1 in what David Goldblatt says was "football's first world championship".^[18] After the success of these tournaments, and not being in agreement with the Olympics on whether they should continue to allow professional player participation, FIFA decided to take their successful world championship model and go independent, now that they had the money and political status to do so, and created the World Cup.^[17]

Tumultuous '30s

Following Jules Rimet'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.^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21][22]

Soviet Bloc dominance amid amateurism 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 1980 were dominated by the Soviet Union and its satellites.^[23] 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.^[24] The next two tournaments saw some changes due to FIFA's changing of the call-up rules, with only Yugoslavia (bronze in 1984) and the Soviet Union (gold in 1988) winning medals for the Eastern Bloc.

Changes and developments

For the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players, but FIFA still did not want the Olympics or any other men's soccer competitions to rival the World Cup.

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 had played all finals and won every single World Cup title) countries to players who had not played in a World Cup.^[25][26][27]

The 1984 rules were maintained also for the 1988 edition, but with an additional rider: any European and South American footballers who had previously played less than 90 minutes in one single match of the World Cup, were eligible.^[28]

1992–present: Age restrictions introduced

Since 1992, male competitors have been required to be under 23 years old,^[29][30] and since 1996, a maximum of three over-23-year-old players have been allowed per squad.^{[note 2][33][34]} African countries initially took advantage of this, with Nigeria and Cameroon winning in 1996 and 2000 respectively.^[35]

Because of the unusual format and the separation from the main national teams that play the World Cup and top continental tournaments, historically strong men's national teams have unimpressive Olympic records. Uruguay, who won the last two tournaments prior to the World Cup's creation, only qualified again in 2012, after an 84-year absence.^[36] Argentina won silver twice (1928 and 1996) before the 2004 tournament, but its appearance in Athens 2004, in which it won the first gold medal, was only their seventh overall.^[37][38] Brazil's silver medals in the 1984, 1988 and 2012 editions were the best they had achieved until back-to-back golds in 2016 and 2020, the former on home soil.^{[39][40][41][42][43][44]} Italy has only won the Olympic title once, in 1936, although along with the two bronzes, the team has the highest number of appearances in the tournament, with 15, the last in 2008.^[45] France won the Olympic title in 1984, but only qualified twice ever since. A team from Germany won the gold medal only once, in 1976 (East Germany), and the reunified team did not make an Olympic appearance until 2016, when they won silver. Spain has won gold in 1992 and 2024, the former as hosts, and followed it with two silver medals (in 2000 and 2020, having also won a third in 1920), along with a few failures to qualify.