Men’s football made its debut in the second edition of the Games, in 1900, and has since made 26 appearances in the planet’s greatest sporting event. Initially, few countries showed any interest in the competition. But it took only a little over 20 years for Olympic football to attract a much larger following. The 1924 Olympic tournament in Paris attracted 22 teams and was marked by the entrance on the scene of the South American countries, more precisely Uruguay, which went on to win two consecutive titles and earn the nickname of “Celeste Olímpica” (Olympic Stars).

Between London 1948 and Moscow 1980, only amateurs took part in the competition. The Europeans, predominantly the Eastern Bloc countries, dominated the event. During this era, stars such as Hungary’s Ferenc Puskas and Zoltan Czibor, the Soviet Union’s Lev Yashin, nicknamed the Black Spider, and Poland’s Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato wrote their names in football history.

Brazil made its Olympic debut in Helsinki 1952, represented by an amateur team, notable for the presence of centre back Zózimo and inside forward Vavá, World Cup champions in 1958. However, the greats of Brazilian football, such as the King Pelé and Garrincha, played no part in the Olympic Games.

“I would love to have given an Olympic title to Brazil. As everyone knows, I played in the 1958 World Cup when I was 17 years old and a professional player. Sadly, in my time professional players were not allowed to represent their country”, said the Athlete of the 20th Century (Pelé), unable to hide his frustration.

It was only in Los Angeles 1984, when FIFA first allowed professionals who had not played in World Cup competitions to take part in the event that a team wearing the famous yellow and green Brazilian national strip first set foot on the podium. Represented by the Internacional de Porto Alegre team, with a few reinforcements, Brazil was beaten 2-0 by France in the Rose Bowl stadium, in California (USA), in front of 101,799 spectators, the largest crowd in Olympic history. Four years later, Brazil fielded a great team that eliminated West Germany, prior to settling for silver after losing in extra time to the Soviet Union. 

Leandro Damião regrets an opportunity he missed against México (Photo: Getty Images/Julian Finney)

Only two Brazilians have stood on the podium on both occasions: right back Luiz Carlos Winck and centre half Ademir Roque Kaefer. Four other players – Bebeto in 1988 and 1996, as well as Thiago Silva, Marcelo and Alexandre Pato, in 2008 and 2012 – have won Olympic honours on two occasions.

“Taking part in the Peking Games was a magnificent experience which made a great contribution to my growth as a player”, said centre back Thiago Silva, captain of the Brazilian team that won silver at the London 2012 Games. “That loss to Mexico hurt, but when I see my silver medal I feel very proud. To take part in the Olympics or the World Cup is the highlight of a player’s career. It would be an enormous privilege to take part in the Games in Rio de Janeiro, a historic event”.

Argentina and México on top of the podium

In the last three editions of the Olympic Games, Argentina has won the title on two occasions and Mexico has shown the world how much its football has evolved by winning the title at London 2012. The 2-1 win over Brazil was achieved by a team brimming with talent such as Javier Aquino, Andres Guardado, Chicharito Hernandez and Oribe Peralta, scorer of both of Mexico’s goals in the final.

In 2004 and 2008, Argentina won the gold medal with two hard-fought encounters ending in 1-0 scorelines. In the first, D’Alessandro, Tévez and Saviola’s team defeated Paraguay. In the second, Argentina, with Messi, Lavezzi, Riquelme and Agüero, defeated Nigeria, in a repeat of the Atlanta 1996 final, where the Africans ran out winners. Javier Mascherano, Argentina’s only two-time Olympic champion, in any discipline, became an idol in his country, even in the eyes of its greatest living sporting legend.