Football at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Football at the 1984 Summer Olympics

The association football (soccer) tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics was a big event in the United States. It started on July 29 and ended on August 11. This was special because, for the first time, professional players were allowed to play, with a few rules about how many games they could have played before the tournament.

The tournament happened in four different stadiums: Harvard Stadium in Boston, Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The final game between France and Brazil at the Rose Bowl had many people watching, which was a record for Olympic soccer games in the United States at that time.

Schedule

Qualifying

Sixteen teams qualified for the Olympic football tournament after playing in regional qualifying rounds. However, three countries from the Warsaw Pact had qualified but chose not to participate because of the Soviet-led boycott. They were replaced by other teams:

• East Germany was replaced by Norway.
• USSR was replaced by West Germany.
• Czechoslovakia was replaced by Italy.

Venues

The football games for the 1984 Summer Olympics took place in many spots across the United States. The games began on July 29 and ended on August 11. This was the first time that professional football players were allowed to compete in the Olympics. Before this, only amateur players could play, which helped teams from Eastern Europe.

Medalists

Match officials

Squads

The teams for the football tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics came from many countries. Each team had its own players competing for their nation. This event was special because it allowed professional players to join for the first time.

Final tournament

Group stage

Group A

Source: FIFA

On July 29, 1984, games were played at Harvard Stadium in Boston and at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

More games in Group A were held on July 31 and August 2 at the same places.

Group B

Source: FIFA

Games in Group B took place on July 30, August 1, and August 3 at Harvard Stadium in Boston and at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Group C

Source: FIFA

Group C games were played on July 30, August 1, and August 3 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford and at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Group D

Source: FIFA

Games in Group D happened on July 29, July 31, and August 2 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford and at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Quarter-final matches were held on August 5 and August 6 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford and at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals took place on August 8 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and at Stanford Stadium in Stanford.

Bronze Medal match

The Bronze Medal match was on August 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Gold Medal match

The Gold Medal match occurred on August 11 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Final team rankings

Note: In football, if a game ends with extra time, the team that scores more goals is considered the winner. If a game is decided by a penalty shoot-out, it is counted as a tie.

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

Goalscorers

The 1984 Olympic football tournament had some great players who scored a lot of goals. Daniel Xuereb from France, along with Borislav Cvetković and Stjepan Deverić from Yugoslavia, were the top scorers, each with five goals. In total, 84 goals were scored by 52 different players.

Here are some of the top goal scorers:

5 goals

• Daniel Xuereb from France
• Borislav Cvetković from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
• Stjepan Deverić from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

4 goals

• Gilmar Popoca from Brazil

3 goals

• Dale Mitchell from Canada
• François Brisson from France
• Rudolf Bommer from West Germany
• Uwe Rahn from West Germany
• Jovica Nikolić from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

2 goals

• Dunga from Brazil
• Emad Soliman from Egypt
• Beniamino Vignola from Italy
• Hussein Saeed from Iraq
• Joar Vaadal from Norway
• Khalid Al-Muhannadi from Qatar
• Rick Davis from United States
• Christian Schreier from West Germany

1 goal

• Kita from Brazil
• Ronaldo Silva from Brazil
• Silvio Paiva from Brazil
• Paul Bahoken from Cameroon
• Louis-Paul Mfédé from Cameroon
• Roger Milla from Cameroon
• Gerry Gray from Canada
• Igor Vrablic from Canada
• Jaime Baeza from Chile
• Fernando Santis from Chile
• Evaristo Coronado from Costa Rica
• Enrique Rivers from Costa Rica
• Magdi Abdelghani from Egypt
• Mahmoud El Khatib from Egypt
• Khaled Gadallah from Egypt
• Dominique Bijotat from France
• Patrice Garande from France
• Philippe Jeannol from France
• Guy Lacombe from France
• Jean-Claude Lemoult from France
• Ali Hussein Shihab from Iraq
• Franco Baresi from Italy
• Pietro Fanna from Italy
• Aldo Serena from Italy
• Mustapha Merry from Morocco
• Per Egil Ahlsen from Norway
• Majed Abdullah from Saudi Arabia
• Gregg Thompson from United States
• Jean Willrich from United States
• Manfred Bockenfeld from West Germany
• Andreas Brehme from West Germany
• Frank Mill from West Germany
• Mirsad Baljić from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
• Nenad Gračan from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
• Ljubomir Radanović from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Discipline

Some players were sent off and had to miss the next match in the tournament. Twelve players were suspended during the final tournament.

Trivia

The wave was seen for the first time on TV during the 1984 Olympic football final. It happened with the help of about 100,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.