Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics

This was the last time that only men would compete in Olympic football as women would be on the pitch for the 1996 Olympics. But at Barcelona, things were very similar as the same format since 1976 was used – 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 16 team qualifiers were as follows – Spain as the host nation; four teams from the 1992 UEFA Europe Under-21 Championships (Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland); three teams from a CAF (Africa) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Egypt, Ghana, Morocco); three teams from an AFC (Asia) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Korea [South], Kuwait, Qatar); two teams from a CONCACAF (North & Central America/Caribbean) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Mexico, United States); two teams from a CONMEBOL (South America) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Colombia, Paraguay); and Australia from the OFC (Oceania) Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The venues were spread around Spain, as was now de rigeur, with the following stadia used – Estadio del FC Barcelona, Barcelona; Estadio de Sarriá, Barcelona; Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia; Estadio de La Romareda, Zaragoza; and Estadio de la Nova Creu Alta, Sabadell.

For only the third time, and the first in 72 years, the host nation won the football gold medal, with Spain defeating Poland, 3-2, in the final match. This had only been accomplished before by Great Britain in 1908 and Belgium in 1920. Ghana won a surprising bronze medal by defeating Australia, 1-0.