Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Football was one of the 154 events at the 1920 Summer Olympics, held in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the fifth time association football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament expanded to 15 countries, including a non-European nation (Egypt) for the first time.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Belgium |
| Dates | 28 August – 5 September 1920 |
| Teams | 15 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Belgium (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Spain |
| Third place | Netherlands |
| Fourth place | Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 70 (4.12 per match) |
| Attendance | 150,600 (8,859 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Herbert Carlsson (7 goals) |
| Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
| Tournament | |
| men's tournament | |
| Squads | |
| squads | |
As these were the first Olympics after World War I, the football teams representing the Central Powers were not invited (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey). The English Football Association had also withdrawn from FIFA, together with the associations of the other UK Home Nations (Scotland, Ireland and Wales), after their demands that the federations of Germany, Austria and Hungary be expelled from that organisation were rejected. FIFA nevertheless accepted the entry of a team from Great Britain (representing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland), ruling that countries entering the Olympic Games in other sports should not be excluded from the football tournament.
Britain had won the 1908 and 1912 gold medals, but were beaten by Norway 3-1 in the first round: the Norway national football team thus celebrated one of their iconic victories, alongside the elimination of Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the 1993 win over England in World Cup qualifying, and the 2–1 defeat of reigning world champions Brazil at the 1998 World Cup.
Hosts Belgium won the gold medal, with the final being abandoned in the 39th minute with Belgium leading 2-0 after Czechoslovakia - who participated in an international competition for the first time - walked off to protest the officiating: the Czechslovaks were subsequently ejected from the competition.
As a result of Czechoslovakia's ejection and Belgium having received a first-round bye, the beaten quarter-finalists (Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden) faced each other to determine who would play the Netherlands (who were beaten in their semifinal by Belgium), who were now assured of a medal.
The tournament ended with Belgium winning the gold medal, with Spain winning the silver and the Netherlands winning the bronze.