Most Successful Nations in the Olympic Football Tournament

Most Successful Nations in the Olympic Football Tournament

As we head into the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and the 26th time football will be played in the summer Olympics, there are five nations with two or more gold medals over the years: Hungary, Great Britain, Argentina, USSR and Uruguay.

Uruguay: 2

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Uruguay won their gold medals in the years before the World Cup: 1924 and 1928, becoming the first ever world champions in 1930. In the 1924 Olympics they beat Switzerland 3-0 in the final with goals by Pedro Petrone, Pedro Cea and Angel Romano, with the first two part of the 1930 World Cup. The in the 1928 final they beat Mexico 3-1, as Guillermo Subiabre scored a hat trick. He scored twice in the ’30 World Cup too.

USSR: 2

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The Soviet Union won the gold medal in the Olympics twice: First in 1956, and for a second time in 1988. In Melbourne, it came down to a final against a big rival of theirs at the time, Yugoslavia, with a 1-0 win thanks to Anatoli Ilyin. He also played for the Soviets in the ’52 Olympics and ’58 World Cup, playing his club career for Spartak Moscow. In 1988, they beat Brazil 2-1 in the final. After Romario opened the scoring for the Brazilians, a penalty by Igor Dobrovolski sent the match into extra time, where Yuri Savichev scored the winner.

Argentina: 2

Aguero, Messi, Olympics
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Argentina won their two gold medals in very recent Olympiads: 2004 & 2008. The win in Athens came against Paraguay, beating their South American rivals 1-0. Carlos Tevez scored the only goal, capping off a fantastic tournament with a leading 8 goals. In 2008, after destroying Brazil 3-0 in the semifinals, Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 with a 58th minute goal by Angel di Maria. Stars like Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi also played on that team.

Great Britain: 3

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Great Britain won the Olympic football tournament in three of the first four times it was held. In 1900, Only two demonstration matches were held between the three club sides, and no medals were awarded. Despite this, the International Olympic Committee currently credits Great Britain, France and Belgium with gold, silver and bronze medals respectively as part of its attempt to reconcile early Olympic Games with the modern award scheme. In 1908 it was a more proper tournament, ending with a 2-0 win over Denmark in the gold medal match, goals coming from Frederick Chapman and Vivian Woodward, a Tottenham and Chelsea star at the time. In 1912 it was another final between GB and Denmark, this time ending 4-2 in favor of Great Britain. Gordon Hoare with a brace, Harold Walden and Arthur Berry scored the goals.

Hungary: 3

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The Magical Magyars, before their terrific 1954 World Cup, won the gold in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. They beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in the final, with Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Czibor scoring. Their next gold medal came years after the end of that fantastic group, this time beating Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final. An own goal, and one by Ferenc Bene did the work. The own goal scorer was Vladimir Weiss, the father of current Slovakia’s international player, Vladimir Weiss. In 1968 they won the gold medal again, beating Bulgaria 4-1 in the final. Scorers: Antal Dunai with a brace, Ivan Menczel and Istvan Juhasz.


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