Olympic Football: Which Teams Have Won A Medal Since 2000?
A look, year by year, at every nation to have won a medal in Mens Football since the turn of the century.
With the Olympics kicking off in Paris, a new collection of teams will be pursuing gold. Lets take a look at all the nations who managed to achieve the dream of a gold medal at the Olympics since 2000. For some fun as well, lets look at the teams who picked up bronze and silver as well.
Sydney 2000 - Cameroon
It was Cameroon who won gold in Sydney as they shockingly beat Spain 5-3 on penalties following a 2-2 after 120 minutes. The Indomitable Lions interestingly are the only men’s team to win a game thanks to golden goal as M’Bambi scored in the 113th minute to beat the the mighty Ronaldinho led Brazil.
This Cameroon squad was not devoid of quality, boasting names like Lauren and a certain Samuel Eto’o. The Olympic gold medal in 2000 is one of three golds Cameroon have won ever: the other two won by triple jumper Françoise Mbango Etone.
Final medal standings:
Cameroon 🥇
Spain 🥈
Chile 🥉
Athens 2004 - Argentina
One of the most dominant Olympic sides ever, Argentina won gold at the Olympics, defeating Paraguay in the final. La Albiceleste were unstoppable in the tournament: scoring 17 and conceding none. They also hold the unique record of being the only men’s national team to win gold in both Football and Basketball events in the same year.
The Argentinian side had many well-known names - especially to the Premier League - including Willy Caballero, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Carlos Tevez was the tournaments top goal scorer, bagging 8 goals in 6 games, the most goals in a tournament in the 2000s and the most by a single player since Kazimierz Denya in 1972 (9).
Final medal standings:
Argentina 🥇
Paraguay 🥈
Italy 🥉
Beijing 2008 - Argentina
It was back-to-back gold medals for Argentina as La Albiceleste bought a, frankly, ridiculously talented pool of players with them to Bejing. A squad including Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabeleta, Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Mascherano (who entered a small list of players with multiple gold medals), Angel Di Maria and a certain young Barcelona forward called Lionel Messi all rocked up to Beijing and did not lose a game, beating a spirited Nigeria 1-0 in the final.
The tournaments top scorer was Italian bagsman Giuseppe Rossi (4) with Belgian midfielder Mousa Dembele in second (3). It was a tournament absolutely stacked with talent ranging from former Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho, young talent such as Gervinho of Ivory Coast and Brazil pair Marcelo and Alecandre Pato, as well as the a-for mentioned Argentina squad.
Final medal standings:
Argentina 🥇
Nigeria 🥈
Brazil 🥉
London 2012 - Mexico
Mexico claimed the gold medal in football for the first time, defeating a Neymar-led Brazil 2-1. Despite the Olympics being held in London, the stadiums used were from all over the UK including Hampden in Scotland and Cardiffs Millennium stadium. The tournament also saw the men’s Great Britain side used for the first time since 1960.
A Oribe Peralta double was enough for Mexico to seal the win over Brazil despite Hulk pulling a goal back in stoppage time. Brazilian forward Leandro Damiao was the top scorer with 6 goals. ‘Big name’ players at this tournament included previously mentioned Neymar, Mohamed Salah, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and an older Ryan Giggs. The tournament also had a comical 9 red cards in 32 matches.
Final medal standings:
Mexico 🥇
Brazil 🥈
South Korea 🥉
Rio De Janiero 2016 - Brazil
Having been denied four years prior, Brazil claimed gold for the first time, beating Germany on penalties. I did an article on this Brazil squad and where they are in 2024 which you can check out here. After winning gold, Brazil became the second side (after France) to win all FIFA 11-a-side titles.
Serge Gnabry and Nils Petersen were joint top scorers with 6 goals apiece. Well known names who participated in the tournament include Neymar, Serge Gnabry, Son Heung Min, Gabriel Jesus and Marquinhos.
Final medal standings:
Brazil 🥇
Germany 🥈
Nigeria 🥉
Tokyo 2021 - Brazil
Brazil made it back to back Olympic wins, defeating Spain 2-1 after extra time. Brazil became one of five teams to win back-to-back golds after Argentina (2004, 2008), Hungary (1964, 1968), Uruguay (1924, 1928) and Great Britain (1908, 1912). Brazilian striker Richarlison won top goal scorer with five goals.
The tournament arguably had the most talent on the most teams out of any Olympics in recent memory featuring talent like Real Soceidad’s Mikel Oyarzabal for Spain, Brightons Karou Mitoma for Japan, Arsenals Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal and PSG forward Kang in Lee for South Korea.
So there you have it. Which nation had the best team and what Olympics do you remember first? Let me know in the comments. While you are at it you should subscribe for more of my waffle.