Complete list of Olympic football winners: Argentines to continue LATAM dominance in 2024?

Football has been a part of the Olympics since almost the very beginning of the modern games, with the first official competition coming in Paris in the year 1900. That was four years after the first modern Olympics but still 30 years before the first World Cup.

Initially just a male event, women’s football didn’t come to the Olympics until almost a full century later, making its debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Here’s the complete list of Olympic football winners.

Notable Olympic football winners from each decade

1900s – Great Britain (1908)

In the early years, football tournaments at the Olympics were small affairs with the difficulty and cost of travel making it difficult for many teams to take part. The 1908 London Games featured only European sides and ended with a home victory as Great Britain defeated Denmark 2-0 in the gold medal match.

1910s – Great Britain (1912)

There was a repeat final in Stockholm four years later with Great Britain seeing off the Danes 4-2 in front of 25,000 people at the Olympic Stadium with Englishman Gordon Hoare scoring twice in the final.

1920s – Uruguay (1924) 

By the Paris Games of 1924, there was a much more global feel to the football tournament with 22 teams taking part in a knockout format that was the biggest international competition at the time featuring sides from across the world.

Uruguay beat Switzerland 3-0 in the final with star striker Pedro Cea among the scorers. He’d go on to score in the inaugural World Cup final six years later as Uruguay cemented their status as the dominant early force in international football.

1930s – Italy (1936)

Football wasn’t included in the 1932 event in Los Angeles but returned four years later in Berlin. Hosts Germany were stunned by Norway in the quarter-finals and 85,000 packed into the Olympiastadion to see Italy triumph over Austria in extra time in the final. That was part of a golden era for Italian football with the Azzurri also winning the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.

1940s – Sweden (1948)

The outbreak of the second world war meant it’d be 12 long years before the next Olympics in London. The British team were knocked out in the semi-finals as Sweden won gold. Their team included the likes of Gunnar Gren and Kalle Svensson who went on to feature for the Swedish side that reached the World Cup final a decade later.

1950s – Hungary (1952)

Sweden were still a force four years later in Helsinki, but this was the era of the Mighty Magyars and Hungary swept their way to gold, crushing almost everyone in their path with 18 goals scored and only one conceded. 

The legendary Ferenc Puskas scored four times for a Hungarian side that excelled again at the 1954 World Cup before suffering a surprise defeat to Germany in the final.

1960s – Hungary (1968)

While Hungary’s golden generation failed to win the World Cup, they picked up their third gold in five Olympiads in 1968 in Mexico, by which time the format had switched into the one we have today with 16 teams divided into four groups, before a knockout phase.

A 4-1 victory over Bulgaria at the iconic Estadio Azteca sealed the deal for the Hungarians while the hosts narrowly missed out on bronze, losing to Japan in the third place match.

1970s – East Germany (1976)

The 1976 Olympic football tournament in Canada was a politically charged affair with a host of withdrawals and a quarter-final lineup that included East Germany, the Soviet Union, Iran, Israel and North Korea.

It was the East Germans who triumphed, with Hans-Jürgen Dörner scoring four times as they defeated France, the Soviets and Poland en-route to gold.

1980s – France (1984)

1984 was a transformative year for French football. A Michel Platini inspired French side won the Euros while over in the United States it was five-goal Daniel Xuereb who proved the main inspiration for a French Olympic side that defeated Brazil 2-0 in the final in front of more than 100,000 in the Rose Bowl.

1990s – Nigeria (1996)

Nigeria made history at the 1996 Games in Atlanta as the first African gold medalists in the football competition.

Their team dazzled with an entertaining brand of football and featured a number of 90s Premier League cult heroes with the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu and Taribo West inspiring the Super Eagles to thrilling victories over Brazil and Argentina.

2000s – Cameroon (2000)

Four years later, Africa reigned again with Cameroon the winners of the men’s competition in Australia.

Samuel Eto'o was the standout name in their squad but it was Patrick M'Boma who did much of the damage down under, scoring four goals while former Arsenal right back Lauren enjoyed a real purple patch in front of goal, scoring three. Both players also converted in the shootout victory over Spain in the gold medal match.

2010s – USA Women (2012)

With the male competition largely an under-23 tournament these days, the women’s event has arguably been the more exciting in recent years and it was a star-studded US side featuring the likes of Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe that triumphed at the 2012 London Games.

A 2-1 victory over Japan in the final sealed their third straight Olympic gold, although they’ve not won one since, something they’ll be desperate to put right this summer in Paris.