The Olympic Games are not what many fans first think of when they think of the greatest football tournaments.
But since being reborn in 1896, football has been played at every games, with a history even deeper than the World Cup or European Championships.
The Olympic Games have also been witness to some of the greatest goalscorers of all time.
So without further ado, here are our Top 10 Olympic football golden boot winners.
Top 10 Olympic football golden boot winners
7. Romário, 7 goals, 1988
Kicking off our list is legendary Brazil striker, Romário. Still playing in Brazil with Vasco da Gama, the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the world’s introduction to the goalscoring phenomenon.
Romário was top scorer, and led his nation to a silver medal. His performances helped secure a move to PSV Eindhoven, and the rest is history.
7. Milan Galić – 7 goals, 1960
Yugoslavia is often forgotten as a footballing powerhouse, but the long-defunct state produced some superb footballers. One of them was Milan Galić.
Galić claimed the golden boot and a gold medal for Yugoslavia, who had narrowly missed out on gold in 1956.
7. Pedro Petrone – 7 goals, 1924
Also winning a golden boot with seven goals was Uruguayan striker Pedro Petrone.
Uruguay were a dominant force in the early days of organised football, and they romped to the 1924 gold medal. Petrone is in fact the youngest football player to win Olympic gold, at just 19 years and one month old.
7. Gunnar Nordahl – 7 goals, 1948
Rounding out our list is Swedish and AC Milan legend Gunnar Nordahl.
Nordahl actually shared the award with Danish striker John Hansen, but Nordahl pips him onto our list, as Sweden won gold in the first Olympics after the devastation of World War II.
6. Carlos Tevez – 8 goals, 2004
The first entrant on our list from the 21st century, Carlos Tevez, then just 20 years old, burst onto the international scene with his performances at the 2004 Olympics, where he was top scorer and won gold with Argentina.
5. Kazimierz Deyna – 9 goals, 1972
Polish legend Kazimierz Deyna is next up, with a stunning nine goals at the 1972 games.
Perhaps even more impressive is that Deyna scored all these goals from midfield. The former Legia Warsaw and Manchester City man was part of a golden generation of Polish players, who came third at the 1974 World Cup, as well as achieving a gold medal at the Munich Olympics of 1972.
3. Gottfried Fuchs – 10 goals, 1912
Arguably the first great German striker, Gottfried Fuchs lit up the 1912 Olympics in Sweden, netting all ten of his goals in a one-man demolition job of Russia.
Fuchs had made his German debut at just 18, and scored 13 goals in just six games before the outbreak of World War I.
3. Vivianne Miedema – 10 goals, 2020
The highest ranking female player, and the most recent on our list is Dutch forward Vivianne Miedema.
Miedema, who has just joined Manchester City on a free from Arsenal, has been regarded as one of the best strikers in Europe for the best part of a decade, despite being just 28.
Blessed with impeccable technique, and an innate nose for goal, Miedema set the record for the most goals in a single women’s Olympic football tournament, with ten at the Tokyo games in 2021, despite playing only four matches.
1. Sophus Nielsen – 11 goals, 1908
Joint top of our list is pioneer of Danish football, Sophus Nielsen. Along with Fuchs, Nielsen holds the record for the most goals in a single Olympic match, with ten goals against France’s A team at the London games.
Unfortunately for Nielsen, he would miss out on gold, as Great Britain defeated the Danes 2-0 in the final.
Nielsen was known for his characteristic bandy legs, which made his winding dribbles very difficult to read. He scored 16 goals in 20 games for his nation, and netted 197 in 155 matches at club level.
1. Domingo Tarasconi – 11 goals, 1928
Topping our list is Argentine forward Domingo Tarasconi, who in just four games at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, scored 11 times.
Tarasconi’s Argentina side would lose out to the dominant Uruguayan side of the era (featuring the aforementioned Pedro Petrone), but nearly 100 years later, his personal record still stands, and looks unlikely to be beaten any time soon.
