Men's Olympic football tournament records and statistics explained

This is a list of records and statistics of the football tournament in the Olympic games ever since the inaugural official edition in 1908.[1]

Medal table

Top scorers by tournament

YearPlayer(s)Goals
1900 Gaston Peltier
John Nicholas		align=center 2
1904 Alexander Hall
Tom Taylor		align=center 3
1908 Sophus Nielsenalign=center 11
1912 Gottfried Fuchsalign=center 10
1920 Herbert Karlssonalign=center 7
1924 Pedro Petronealign=center 7
1928 Domingo Tarasconialign=center 11
1936 Annibale Frossialign=center 7
1948 John Hansen
Gunnar Nordahl		align=center 7
1952 Rajko Mitić
Branko Zebec		align=center 7
1956 Neville D'Souza
Todor Veselinović
Dimitar Milanov		align=center 4
1960 Harald Nielsenalign=center 8
1964 Ferenc Benealign=center 12
1968 Kunishige Kamamotoalign=center 7
1972 Kazimierz Deynaalign=center 9
1976 Andrzej Szarmachalign=center 6
1980 Sergey Andreyevalign=center 5
1984 Borislav Cvetković
Stjepan Deverić
Daniel Xuereb		align=center 5
1988 Romárioalign=center 7
1992 Andrzej Juskowiakalign=center 7
1996 Bebeto
Hernán Crespo		align=center 6
2000 Iván Zamoranoalign=center 6
2004 Carlos Tevezalign=center 8
2008 Giuseppe Rossialign=center 4
2012 Leandro Damiãoalign=center 6
2016 Serge Gnabry
Nils Petersen		align=center 6
2020 Richarlisonalign=center 5
2024 Soufiane Rahimialign=center 8

Records

Starting with the first official football tournament in London in 1908, Denmark's Sophus Nielsen and Hungary's Antal Dunai share the record for the most total goals scored by a player in tournament history. Both have 13 goals: Nielsen scored 11 goals in 1908 and two in 1912, and Dunai scored six in 1968 and seven in 1972. Ferenc Bene holds the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Olympics tournament, scoring 12 goals in the 1964 edition. Sophus Nielsen and Gottfried Fuchs share the record for most goals scored in a single Olympic match at 10. Nielson achieved that in the semi-final match against France in 1908, and Fuchs did so in the first-round match against Russia in the 1912 consolation tournament.

Neymar scored the fastest goal in a men's Olympic football match in history, 14 seconds into the semi-final match against Honduras on 17 August 2016.[2]

All-time top scorers

The all-time top goalscorers with at least 7 goals (since 1908)

RankPlayerTeamGoals
1 Sophus NielsenDenmark13
Antal DunaiHungary13
3 Ferenc BeneHungary12
4 Domingo TarasconiArgentina11
Pedro PetroneUruguay11
6 Gottfried FuchsGermany10
Kazimierz DeynaPoland10
8 Harold WaldenGreat Britain9
Vilhelm WolfhagenDenmark9
10 Jan VosNetherlands8
Hector ScaroneUruguay8
Carlos TevezArgentina8
BebetoBrazil8
Harald NielsenDenmark8
Ibrahim ReyadhEgypt8
Soufiane RahimiMorocco8
17 John HansenDenmark7
Anthon OlsenDenmark7
Gunnar NordahlSweden7
Annibale FrossiItaly7
Vilhelm WolfhagenDenmark7
Herbert CarlssonSweden7
Branko ZebecYugoslavia7
Milan GalićYugoslavia7
Kunishige KamamotoJapan7
Andrzej JuskowiakPoland7
RomarioBrazil7
NeymarBrazil7

Hat-tricks

See main article: List of men's Olympic football tournament hat-tricks. Since the first official tournament in 1908 in England, 99 hat-tricks have been scored in over 1,000 matches of the 28 editions of the tournament.

Teams: tournament position

Teams having equal quantities in the tables below are ordered by the tournament the quantity was attained in (the teams that attained the quantity first are listed first). If the quantity was attained by more than one team in the same tournament, these teams are ordered alphabetically.

Most titles won: 3, (1900, 1908, 1912) ; (1952, 1964, 1968).
  • Most finishes in the top two: 5, (1984, 1988, 2012, 2016, 2020), (1920, 1992, 2000, 2020, 2024)
  • Most finishes in the top three: 7, (1984, 1988, 1996, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020).
  • Most finishes in the top four: 8, (1976, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020).
  • Most appearances: 15, (1912, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008).
    15, (1904, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2024).

    • Consecutive

    Most consecutive medals: 4, (1948–52–56–60); (1960–64–68–72); (2008–12–16–20).
  • Most consecutive golds: 2, (1908–12); (1924–28); (1964–68); (2004–08); (2016–20).
  • Most consecutive silvers: 3, (1948–52–56).
  • Most consecutive bronzes: 3, (1908–12–20).
  • Most consecutive top three finishes: 3, (1972–1980).
  • Most consecutive championships by a confederation: 13, UEFA, (1936–1992).
  • Most consecutive matches won: 12, (2004–2008), six in each tournament.
  • Most consecutive appearances: 9, (1988–2020)

    • Gaps

    Longest gap between titles: 32 years, (1956–1988).
  • Longest gap between appearances in the top two: 72 years, (1920–1992).

    • Host team

    Best finish by host team: Champion: (1908); (1920); (1992); (2016).

    Other

    Most finishes in the top two without ever being champion: 3, (1908, 1912, 1960).
  • Most finishes in the top three without ever being champion: 4, (1908, 1912, 1948, 1960).
  • Most finishes in the top four without ever being champion: 4, (1908, 1912, 1920, 1924); (1908, 1912, 1948, 1960).

    • Teams: matches played and goals scored

    All time

    Most matches played: 66, .
  • Most wins: 38, .
  • Most losses: 23, .
  • Most draws: 13, .
  • Most goals scored: 134, .
  • Most goals conceded: 102, .
  • Fewest goals conceded: 1, .

    • Individual

    Most matches played, finals: 13, Dezső Novák (1960–1968); Antal Dunai (1964–1972); Lajos Szűcs (1968–1972); Miklós Páncsics (1968–1972).

    Players who won Summer Olympics and FIFA World Cup

    PlayerTeamGold medal FIFA World Cup
    José Leandro Andradealign=center rowspan=619241928align=center rowspan=111930
    Pedro Cea
    José Nasazzi
    Pedro Petrone
    Héctor Scarone
    Santos Urdinarán
    Peregrino Anselmoalign=center rowspan=51928
    Héctor Castro
    Lorenzo Fernández
    Álvaro Gestido
    Domingo Tejera
    Alfredo Fonialign=center rowspan=41936align=center rowspan=41938
    Sergio Bertoni
    Ugo Locatelli
    Pietro Rava
    Ángel Di Maríaalign=center rowspan=22008align=center rowspan=22022
    Lionel Messi

    Goalscoring

    Individual

    Most goals scored, overall finals: 13, Sophus Nielsen, 1908–1912; Antal Dunai, 1964-1972.
  • Most goals scored in a tournament: 12, Ferenc Bene, 1964.
  • Most goals scored in a match: 10, Sophus Nielsen, vs France, 1908; Gottfried Fuchs, vs Russia, 1912.
  • First goalscorer: Nils Middelboe, vs France, 19 October 1908.
  • Youngest goalscorer:, Ángel Uribe, vs France, 26 August 1960.
  • Oldest goalscorer:, Ryan Giggs, vs United Arab Emirates, 29 July 2012.

    • Team

    Most goals scored in a match, one team: 17, vs, 1908.
  • Most goals scored in a match, both teams: 18, (17) vs (1), 1908.
  • Highest scoring draw: 5–5, vs, 1952.
  • Fewest goals conceded in a tournament: 0, in Athens 2004

    • Tournament

    Most goals scored in a tournament: 135 goals, 1952; 1972.
  • Fewest goals scored in a tournament: 48 goals, 1908.
  • Most goals per match in a tournament: 8.00 goals per match, 1908.
  • Fewest goals per match in a tournament: 2.34 goals per match, 2008.

    • Winning managers

    1904 Louis Blake Duff Joe LydonNone
    1908 Alfred Davis Charlie Williams Edgar Chadwick
    1912 Adrian Birch Charlie Williams Edgar Chadwick
    1920 Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie Francisco Bru Frederick Warburton
    1924 Ernesto Fígoli Edward Duckworth József Nagy
    1928 Primo Gianotti José Lago Millan Augusto Rangone
    1936 Vittorio Pozzo Jimmy Hogan Asbjørn Halvorsen
    1948 George Raynor Milorad Arsenijević Reg Mountford
    1952 Gusztáv Sebes Milorad Arsenijević George Raynor
    1956 Gavriil Kachalin Milovan Ćirić Stoyan Ormandzhiev &
    Krum Milev
    1960 Aleksandar Tirnanić Arne Sørensen Béla Volentik
    1964 Károly Lakat Rudolf Vytlačil Károly Sós
    1968 Károly Lakat Georgi Berkov Ken Naganuma
    1972 Kazimierz Górski Rudolf Illovszky
    Aleksandr Ponomarev
    1976 Georg Buschner Kazimierz Górski Valeriy Lobanovskyi
    1980 František Havránek Rudolf Krause Konstantin Beskov
    1984 Henri Michel Jair Picerni Ivan Toplak
    1988 Anatoliy Byshovets Carlos Alberto Silva Hannes Löhr
    1992 Vicente Miera Janusz Wójcik Sam Arday
    1996 Jo Bonfrère Daniel Passarella Mário Zagallo
    2000 Jean-Paul Akono Iñaki Sáez Nelson Acosta
    2004 Marcelo Bielsa Carlos Jara Claudio Gentile
    2008 Sergio Batista Samson Siasia Dunga
    2012 Luis Fernando Tena Mano Menezes Hong Myung-bo
    2016 Rogério Micale Horst Hrubesch Samson Siasia
    2020 André Jardine Luis de la Fuente Jaime Lozano
    2024 Santi Denia Thierry Henry Tarik Sektioui

    Managers who won Summer Olympics and FIFA World Cup

    Discipline

    Most sendings off (all-time, team): 6,,, .
  • Most cautions (all-time, team): 91, .

    • Attendance

    Highest average of attendance per match: 47,660, 2012.
  • Lowest average of attendance per match: 3,333, 1908.

    • See also

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Olympic football records: Dunai’s goals, USA’s dominance and Brazil's medal collection . 16 August 2021 . 1 April 2024.
    2. Web site: Video: Watch Neymar net the fastest goal in Olympic history to take host nation Brazil into football final . 18 August 2016 . 19 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160831170945/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2016/8/neymar-nets-fastest-goal-in-olympic-history-to-take-host-nation-into-football-fin-440325 . 31 August 2016 . live.

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