Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament
The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 August to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their men's under-23 teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 15 teams, plus the host nation, reached the final tournament. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with up to three players over the age of 23.
Tournament details | |
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Host country | China |
Dates | 7–23 August |
Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
Venue(s) | 6 (in 5 host cities) |
Final positions | |
Champions | |
Runners-up | |
Third place | |
Fourth place | |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 32 |
Goals scored | 75 (2.34 per match) |
Attendance | 1,404,254 (43,883 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | (4 goals) |
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
men | women | |
Tournament | ||
men | women | |
Squads | ||
men | women | |
For these Games, the men competed in a 16-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced on 7 August, the day before the Games' opening ceremony. The teams were grouped into four pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. The top two teams in each pool advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket.
The tournament was won by Argentina, who beat Nigeria 1–0 in the final, as part of a record streak of 12 consecutive wins in football competitions at the Summer Olympics (six wins in 2004, six wins in 2008).
Qualification
A National Olympic Committee may enter one men's team in football competitions.
Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
---|---|---|---|---|
Host nation | 1 | |||
AFC Preliminary Competition | February – November 2007 | – | 3 | |
CAF Preliminary Competition | September 2006 – March 2008 | – | 3 | |
CONCACAF Preliminary Competition | August 2007 – March 2008 | 2 | ||
2007 South American Youth Championship | 7–28 January 2007 | 2 | ||
OFC Preliminary Competition | 1–9 March 2008 | 1 | ||
2007 UEFA U-21 Championship | 10–23 June 2007 | 4 | ||
Total | 16 |
Squads
For the men's tournament, each nation submitted a squad of 18 players, 15 of whom had to be born on or after 1 January 1985, and three of whom could be overage players, by 23 July 2008.[1] A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad.[1]
Match officials
On 22 April 2008, FIFA released the list of match referees that will officiate at the Olympics.[2]
Confederation | Referee | Assistants |
---|---|---|
AFC | Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) | Mohammed Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) Hamdi Al Kadrie (Syria) |
Abdullah Al Hilali (Oman) | Khaled Al Allan (Bahrain) Saleh Al Marzouqi (United Arab Emirates) | |
Masoud Moradi (Iran) | Hassan Kamranifar (Iran) Luay Subhi Adib (Iraq) | |
CAF | Jerome Damon (South Africa) | Enock Molefe (South Africa) Célestin Ntagungira (Rwanda) |
Badara Diatta (Senegal) | Bechir Hassani (Tunisia) Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon) | |
CONCACAF | Roberto Moreno (Panama) | Daniel Williamson (Panama) Hairo Fuentes (Panama) |
Jair Marrufo (United States) | Kermit Quisenberry (United States) Ricardo Morgan (Jamaica) | |
CONMEBOL | Héctor Baldassi (Argentina) | Ricardo Casas (Argentina) Hernán Maidana (Argentina) |
Pablo Pozo (Chile) | Patricio Basualto (Chile) Julio Díaz (Chile) | |
Martín Vázquez (Uruguay) | Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay) Miguel Nievas (Uruguay) | |
OFC | Michael Hester (New Zealand) | Tevita Makasini (Tonga) Michael Joseph (Vanuatu) |
UEFA | Thomas Einwaller (Austria) | Roland Heim (Austria) Norbert Schwab (Austria) |
Viktor Kassai (Hungary) | Gábor Erős (Hungary) Tibor Vámos (Hungary) | |
Stéphane Lannoy (France) | Eric Dansault (France) Frédéric Cano (France) | |
Damir Skomina (Slovenia) | Primož Arhar (Slovenia) Marco Stancin (Slovenia) | |
Wolfgang Stark (Germany) | Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany) Volker Wezel (Germany) |
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Group stage
Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals.
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Qualified for the quarterfinals | |
2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | ||
3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | ||
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 |
Serbia | 2–4 | |
---|---|---|
Mrdaković Rakić |
Report | Cissé Rajković Kalou Gervinho |
Ivory Coast | 1–0 | |
---|---|---|
Kalou |
Report |
Argentina | 2–0 | |
---|---|---|
Lavezzi Buonanotte |
Report |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | Qualified for the quarterfinals | |
2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | ||
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||
4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
Japan | 0–1 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Holden |
Netherlands | 0–0 | |
---|---|---|
Report |
United States | 2–2 | |
---|---|---|
Kljestan Altidore |
Report | Babel Sibon |
Netherlands | 1–0 | |
---|---|---|
Sibon |
Report |
Nigeria | 2–1 | |
---|---|---|
Isaac Obinna |
Report | Kljestan |
Group C
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 9 | Qualified for the quarterfinals | |
2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | ||
3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 | ||
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 1 |
China PR | 1–1 | |
---|---|---|
Dong Fangzhuo |
Report | Brockie |
New Zealand | 0–5 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Anderson Pato Ronaldinho Sóbis |
China PR | 0–3 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Diego Thiago Neves |
New Zealand | 0–1 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Haroun |
Group D
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 7 | Qualified for the quarterfinals | |
2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | ||
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | ||
4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
Honduras | 0–3 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Giovinco Rossi Acquafresca |
South Korea | 1–1 | |
---|---|---|
Park Chu-young |
Report | Mandjeck |
Italy | 3–0 | |
---|---|---|
Rossi Rocchi Montolivo |
Report |
South Korea | 1–0 | |
---|---|---|
Kim Dong-jin |
Report |
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | |||||||||||
B1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
A2 | 0 | ||||||||||||
B1 | 4 | ||||||||||||
C2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
D1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
C2 | 3 | ||||||||||||
B1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
A1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
A1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
B2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
A1 | 3 | Bronze medal match | |||||||||||
C1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
C1 | 2 | C2 | 0 | ||||||||||
D2 | 0 | C1 | 3 |
Quarter-finals
Nigeria | 2–0 | |
---|---|---|
Odemwingie Obinna |
Report |
Gold medal match
Team details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Final ranking
Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 18 | |
2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 13 | |
3 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 15 | |
4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | –3 | 9 | |
5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 7 | |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | |
8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 5 | |
9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | |
11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | |
12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 | |
13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 | |
14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | –6 | 1 | |
15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | –3 | 0 | |
16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | –5 | 0 |
Statistics
Goalscorers
With four goals, Giuseppe Rossi of Italy was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 75 goals were scored by 53 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal.
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
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|
|
- 1 goal
- Own goals
Slobodan Rajković (playing against Ivory Coast)
References
- Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
- "List of Referees & Assistant Referees appointed for the Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 – (Men's tournament)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- "Sports Competition Schedule". BOCOG. 17 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 August 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2006.
- "Football". International Olympic Committee. 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2006.
- "Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2006.