Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

2008 Men's Olympic football tournament
Tournament details
Host country China
Dates 7 August – 23 August
Teams 16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s) 6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Argentina (2nd title)
Runners-up  Nigeria
Third place  Brazil
Fourth place  Belgium
Tournament statistics
Matches played 32
Goals scored 75 (2.34 per match)
Attendance 1,404,254 (43,883 per match)
Top scorer(s) Italy Giuseppe Rossi
(4 goals)
Football at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Tournament
men  women
Squads
men  women

The men's association 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 U-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.

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).

Qualifying round

Countries of men's tournament

A National Olympic Committee may enter one men's team in football competitions.

Means of qualification Date Venue Berths Qualified
Host nation   1  China PR
AFC Preliminary Competition February – November 2007 – 3  Australia
 South Korea
 Japan
CAF Preliminary Competition September 2006 – March 2008 – 3  Cameroon
 Ivory Coast
 Nigeria
CONCACAF Preliminary Competition August 2007 – March 2008  United States 2  Honduras
 United States
2007 South American Youth Championship 7–28 January 2007  Paraguay 2  Brazil
 Argentina
OFC Preliminary Competition 1–9 March 2008  Fiji 1  New Zealand
2007 UEFA U-21 Championship 10–23 June 2007  Netherlands 4  Netherlands
 Serbia
 Belgium
 Italy
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).

Preliminaries

Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Qualified for the quarterfinals
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Argentina 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 9
 Ivory Coast 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
 Australia 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
 Serbia 3 0 1 2 3 7 −4 1

7 August 2008
17:00

Australia  1–1  Serbia
Zadkovich  69' Report Rajković  78'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 36,184
Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)

7 August 2008
19:45

Ivory Coast  1–2  Argentina
Cissé  53' Report Messi  43'
Acosta  86'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 43,266
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

10 August 2008
17:00

Argentina  1–0  Australia
Lavezzi  76' Report
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 38,182
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

10 August 2008
19:45

Serbia  2–4  Ivory Coast
Mrdaković  16'
Rakić  90'		 Report Cissé  3'
Rajković  24' (o.g.)
Kalou  70'
Gervinho  90+3'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 38,320
Referee: Roberto Moreno (Panama)

13 August 2008
19:45

Ivory Coast  1–0  Australia
Kalou  81' Report

13 August 2008
19:45

Argentina  2–0  Serbia
Lavezzi  13' (pen.)
Buonanotte  84'		 Report

Group B

Qualified for the quarterfinals
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Nigeria 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
 Netherlands 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
 United States 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
 Japan 3 0 0 3 1 4 −3 0

7 August 2008
17:00

Japan  0–1  United States
Report Holden  47'

7 August 2008
19:45

Netherlands  0–0  Nigeria
Report

10 August 2008
17:00

Nigeria  2–1  Japan
Obinna  58'
Anichebe  74'		 Report Toyoda  79'

10 August 2008
19:45

United States  2–2  Netherlands
Kljestan  64'
Altidore  72'		 Report Babel  16'
Sibon  90+3'

13 August 2008
17:00

Netherlands  1–0  Japan
Sibon  73' (pen.) Report

13 August 2008
17:00

Nigeria  2–1  United States
Isaac  39'
Obinna  79'		 Report Kljestan  88' (pen.)

Group C

Qualified for the quarterfinals
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Brazil 3 3 0 0 9 0 +9 9
 Belgium 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6
 China PR 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
 New Zealand 3 0 1 2 1 7 −6 1

7 August 2008
17:00

Brazil  1–0  Belgium
Hernanes  79' Report

7 August 2008
19:45

China PR  1–1  New Zealand
Dong Fangzhuo  88' Report Brockie  53'

10 August 2008
17:00

New Zealand  0–5  Brazil
Report Anderson  3'
Pato  33'
Ronaldinho  55', 61' (pen.)
Sóbis  90+3'

10 August 2008
19:45

Belgium  2–0  China PR
Dembélé  8'
Mirallas  80'		 Report

13 August 2008
19:45

China PR  0–3  Brazil
Report Diego  18'
Thiago Neves  69', 73'

13 August 2008
19:45

New Zealand  0–1  Belgium
Report Haroun  35'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 45,202
Referee: Pablo Pozo (Chile)

Group D

Qualified for the quarterfinals
Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Italy 3 2 1 0 6 0 +6 7
 Cameroon 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
 South Korea 3 1 1 1 2 4 −2 4
 Honduras 3 0 0 3 0 5 −5 0

7 August 2008
17:00

Honduras  0–3  Italy
Report Giovinco  41'
Rossi  45' (pen.)
Acquafresca  52' (pen.)

7 August 2008
19:45

South Korea  1–1  Cameroon
Park Chu-young  68' Report Mandjeck  81'

10 August 2008
17:00

Cameroon  1–0  Honduras
Mbia  74' Report

10 August 2008
19:45

Italy  3–0  South Korea
Rossi  15'
Rocchi  32'
Montolivo  90'		 Report

13 August 2008
17:00

South Korea  1–0  Honduras
Kim Dong-jin  23' Report

13 August 2008
17:00

Cameroon  0–0  Italy
Report

Knockout stage

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Gold medal match
                           
  B1   Nigeria 2  
A2   Ivory Coast 0  
  B1   Nigeria 4  
  C2   Belgium 1  
D1   Italy 2
  C2   Belgium 3  
    B1   Nigeria 0
  A1   Argentina 1
  A1   Argentina (aet) 2  
B2   Netherlands 1  
  A1   Argentina 3 Bronze medal match
  C1   Brazil 0  
C1   Brazil (aet) 2 C2   Belgium 0
  D2   Cameroon 0   C1   Brazil 3

Quarter-finals

16 August 2008
18:00

Brazil  2–0 (a.e.t.)  Cameroon
Sóbis  101'
Marcelo  105'		 Report

16 August 2008
18:00

Italy  2–3  Belgium
Rossi  18' (pen.), 74' (pen.) Report Dembélé  23', 79'
Mirallas  45+2'

16 August 2008
21:00

Argentina  2–1 (a.e.t.)  Netherlands
Messi  14'
Di María  105'		 Report Bakkal  36'

16 August 2008
21:00

Nigeria  2–0  Ivory Coast
Odemwingie  44'
Obinna  82' (pen.)		 Report

Semi-finals

19 August 2008
18:00

Nigeria  4–1  Belgium
Adefemi  17'
Obasi  59', 72'
Okonkwo  78'		 Report Ciman  88'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 56,312
Referee: Pablo Pozo (Chile)

19 August 2008
21:00

Argentina  3–0  Brazil
Agüero  52', 58'
Riquelme  76' (pen.)		 Report

Bronze medal match

22 August 2008
19:00

Belgium  0–3  Brazil
Report Diego  27'
Jô  45', 90+2'
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Attendance: 50,705
Referee: Thomas Einwaller (Austria)

Gold medal match

23 August 2008
12:00

Nigeria  0–1  Argentina
Report Di María  58'
National Stadium, Beijing
Attendance: 89,102
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Final ranking

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Argentina (ARG) 6600112+918
2  Nigeria (NGR) 6411104+613
3  Brazil (BRA) 6501143+1115
4  Belgium (BEL) 6303710–39
5  Italy (ITA) 421183+57
6  Ivory Coast (CIV) 42026606
7  Netherlands (NED) 41214405
8  Cameroon (CMR) 412123–15
9  United States (USA) 31114404
10  South Korea (KOR) 311124−24
11  Australia (AUS) 301213−21
12  Serbia (SRB) 301237−41
13  China (CHN) 301216−51
14  New Zealand (NZL) 301217–61
15  Japan (JPN) 300314–30
16  Honduras (HON) 300305–50

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
1 goal
Own goals

References

  1. 1 2 Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments
  2. ↑ "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.
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