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 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 | |
---|---|
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) |
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).
Despite the absence of an official best player award, the FIFA website highlighted Lionel Messi's campaign by stating that he "posed defenders more problems than anyone else in the tournament".[1] Juan Román Riquelme and Javier Mascherano also received special mentions.[2]
Qualification
editA 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 |
Venues
editSix venues were used during the tournament, four of them outside of Beijing at cities around China. Beijing National Stadium hosted the final.
Beijing | Shanghai | Location of host cities of the tournament. | |
---|---|---|---|
Beijing National Stadium | Beijing Workers' Stadium | Shanghai Stadium | |
Capacity: 91,000 | Capacity: 65,094 | Capacity: 72,000 | |
Tianjin | Shenyang | Qinhuangdao | |
Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium | Shenyang Olympic Stadium | Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium | |
Capacity: 54,696 | Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 33,000 | |
Squads
editFor 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.[3] A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad.[3]
Match officials
editOn 22 April 2008, FIFA released the list of match referees that will officiate at the Olympics.[4]
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).
Seeding
editThe draw for the tournament took place on 20 April 2008. Argentina, the Netherlands, China and Cameroon were seeded for the draw and placed into groups A–D, respectively. The remaining teams were drawn from four pots with teams from the same region kept apart.
Pot 1: Asia | Pot 2: Africa and Oceania | Pot 3: Europe | Pot 4: Americas |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Group stage
editGroup winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals.
Group A
editPos | 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 |
Group B
editPos | 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 |
Group C
editPos | 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 | 1–1 | |
---|---|---|
Dong Fangzhuo |
Report | Brockie |
New Zealand | 0–5 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Anderson Pato Ronaldinho Sóbis |
China | 0–3 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Diego Thiago Neves |
New Zealand | 0–1 | |
---|---|---|
Report | Haroun |
Group D
editPos | 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
editQuarter-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
editNigeria | 2–0 | |
---|---|---|
Odemwingie Obinna |
Report |
Semi-finals
editBronze medal match
editGold medal match
editSource for cards:[6]
Team details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Final ranking
editPos | 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
editGoalscorers
editWith 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
Lautaro Acosta
Diego Buonanotte
Juan Román Riquelme
Ruben Zadkovich
Laurent Ciman
Faris Haroun
Anderson
Hernanes
Marcelo
Alexandre Pato
Georges Mandjeck
Stéphane Mbia
Dong Fangzhuo
Robert Acquafresca
Sebastian Giovinco
Riccardo Montolivo
Tommaso Rocchi
Gervinho
Yohei Toyoda
Kim Dong-jin
Park Chu-young
Ryan Babel
Otman Bakkal
Jeremy Brockie
Olubayo Adefemi
Victor Anichebe
Peter Odemwingie
Chibuzor Okonkwo
Isaac Promise
Miljan Mrdaković
Slobodan Rajković
Đorđe Rakić
Jozy Altidore
Stuart Holden
- Own goals
Slobodan Rajković (playing against Ivory Coast)
References
edit- ^ "Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008". FIFA. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "Messi and Argentina grab gold in Beijing". FIFA. 23 August 2020. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ a b Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "List of Referees & Assistant Referees appointed for the Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 – (Men's tournament)" (PDF). FIFA. 22 April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "2008 Summer Olympics Soccer Results - Beijing, China - ESPN". www.espn.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Torneo Olímpico de Fútbol • 23 Aug 2008 • 01:00 • National Stadium (Bird's Nest)". FIFA (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
- "Sports Competition Schedule". Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. 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.