Football at the 1980 Summer Olympics

With the US-led boycott of the 1980 Olympics, it was difficult to get a full field of 16 teams, as seven of the original qualifiers eventually withdrew. The original qualifiers were as follows – Soviet Union as the host nation; German Democratic Republic (GDR) [East] as the defending champion; four teams from a UEFA (Europe) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Czechoslovakia, Norway, Spain, Yugoslavia); three teams from a CAF (Africa) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Algeria, Ghana, Egypt); three teams from an AFC (Asia) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia); two teams from a CONCACAF (North & Central America/Caribbean) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Costa Rica, United States); and two teams from a CONMEBOL (South America) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Colombia, Argentina). But due to withdrawals related to the boycott, the following replacements were made – Nigeria replaced Ghana, Zambia replaced Egypt, Iraq replaced Malaysia, Syria replaced Iran, Cuba replaced the United States, Venezuela replaced Argentina, and Finland replaced Norway.

The teams faced the now standard Olympic format, with the 16 teams separated into four four-team groups, that played a round-robin to determine the top two teams in each group, who advanced to the quarter-finals and the knock-out phase. The matches were played at five stadia in the Soviet Union, with three in Russia, one in Ukraine, and one in what was then Byelorussia. The venues were Lenin Stadium and Dynamo Stadium in Moskva, Russia; Kirov Stadium in Leningraf (St. Peterburg), Russia; Republican Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine; and Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, Byelorussia.

Four Eastern Bloc nations made the semi-finals, with Czechoslovakia winning the gold medal, 1-0, over the GDR, and the Soviet Union defeating Yugoslavia, 2-0, for the bronze medal.